Saberwolf
by A Bard named Ayla
Summary: A femme with a dark past. The Decepticon warlord with a mysterious plan. And the Autobots stuck in the middle... My continuation of TFA with a new character. And she has a self given quest to do something no bot has done before. Rated Mature for language and other reasons I wish not to spoil.
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1 – Beginning**

**Chapter 1: Meeting**

_**SP:**_

"S.P.!"

Sentinel Prime sighed.

"What is it now Jazz? We're supposed to be preparing for launch," he said.

"Exactly. We _all _are supposed to be preparing for launch," Jazz said.

"So? Get to the point Jazz."

"The point is: the twins took off!"

"They did what?"

Sentinel clenched his hands and gritted his teeth.

"Where in hell did they go?" he growled.

"I'm not sure, but I'll search downtown, you up." Jazz said.

Sentinel looked sharply at him, wondering if he would catch his mistakes. Jazz looked back for a moment then shook his head a bit.

"That is, if it's okay with you, S.P."

That was one. Jazz was silent. Sentinel sighed.

"Just scan for their signals. We don't have time to scour the city," Sentinel said.

"I did sir. Somethin's jammin' my scanner."

"That's ridiculous."

Sentinel checked his scanner. It was jammed.

"Shit. Alright, we'll go find 'em. But be careful. There could be a Decepticon lurking around causing the jam," Sentinel said, "Now let's go!"

"Got it!"

Jazz took off towards downtown.

"Rendezvous back here!" Sentinel shouted after him.

Jazz honked twice in reply, as he was already in vehicle mode and out of range for his voice to carry well.

Sentinel roamed the uptown streets in vehicle mode, relieved that it wasn't raining. He'd just seen a light blue figure dash by on the street, then the orange and blue trails the twins left in the sky in their vehicle modes. He'd turned around to follow, not seeing the blue thing again, but not caring. He followed the trails in the sky. That always killed him, Jetfire's and Jetstorm's vehicle modes. They were the first ever flying Autobots, modeled after the Decepticon Starscream, and could combine to form a really strong super-mode, code named Safeguard. The thought always made sentinel feel smug and proud.

The twins had just transformed back into robot mode and stepped into an alley a few blocks down the street. Sentinel transformed too, walking towards the alley. He flattened his back to the building that was at the edge of the alley. He heard the sound of the human's trashcans falling.

_Amateurs,_ he thought, _making all the noise in the universe…_

He rolled his eyes. They'd wake up the entire block of they kept up the noise. He peered around the corner.

It was one of those dark, dead end alley ways with virtually no light. Sentinel flicked on the flashlight on his shoulder and stepped into the alley. He ran the light across the area, dumpsters and trashcans casting shadows. He saw nothing unusual at first, and wondered if he'd gone down the right alley. Then his light came across a bright orange foot sticking out from behind a trash can. And not an upright foot, but one at a relaxed angle, as if the bot it belonged to was lying down.

_Shit…_

Sentinel ran over and found Jetfire and Jetstorm both lying on their backs on the ground, unconscious. He knelt over them to check their vitals. They were alive. He breathed an inward sigh of relief, relaxing his body as he did so. He looked up at the twins' faces. His eyes fell upon strange marks on their necks. As he leaned over to inspect them, he heard a low growl. He jumped up and drew his lance and shield, spinning around to the direction the noise came from. There was nothing there.

_Huh?_

He heard the growl again, this time louder and from a different direction. He whipped around towards it, ready to strike, but again saw nothing. He coked his head in confusion, coming out of his defensive stance without realizing it. Then he felt a sharp pain up his spine and fell into blackness...

**_SW:_**

_Shit shit shit! _

She ran awkwardly, stumbling over the body dangling from her jaws, and then having to shake and squirm to get the two lying over her back to settle properly.

_Why the hell does this shit happen to me?_

She ran over the incident in her head:

She had just been minding her own business, wandering the streets in the twilight when she heard strange, heavy accented voices. They were behind her, following her.

"That's the biggest dog I've ever seen, do you agree bother?" one voice said.

"Yes, very big! But brother, human dogs don't get that big, not even robot ones," said the other.

"It cannot be from around here."

"Maybe it is being from a different planet?"

"That is a big leap brother."

"We should investigate!"

"Oh yes! Great idea brother!"

The vocal frequencies were so similar, many would think it was one voice without looking at them, but she could tell the difference.

_Great, they're not gonna leave me alone,_ she had thought.

She'd picked up the pace.

"Look brother! It is getting away!"

There were footsteps.

"No! Don't run brother! Fly!"

The footsteps stopped.

"Oh. Right."

There was transformation sounds, then the sound of jets taking off.

_Shit! Decepticons! Why did the hell did it have to be Decepticons!_

She started running, looking for a place to hide. She did NOT want to deal with a Decepticon, let alone two.

She ran for a few blocks, taking left turns, right turns, going through tunnels and alley ways. The jets kept their pursuit. She dashed past a strange blue truck with an orange scoop looking thing on the front. She ran and turned down a different street a few blocks away, hearing the truck turn around and head her way.

_What now?_

She hoped it was an Autobot, but she didn't know of any on earth that had that kind of vehicle mode.

She turned right down another street, ran tow more blocks, then turned left into the alley she used for shelter. she knew the alley well. It was _her_ alley. She hid behind a dumpster, waiting. She heard the jets and truck closing in. the jets transformed and stepped up to the alley.

"In here!"

"Yes! Let us find it!"

The truck rounded the corner up the street as the two Decepticon jets walked into the alley. She growled instinctively.

"There!"

The two Decepticons stepped in front of her. One bright orange, one dark blue. The orange one put out a hand and reached towards her.

"Hello little dog—"

She sprung forward and bit him in the throat, cutting off his speech and not allowing him to make any noise. He staggered backwards as she held on. She heard the other one lift his foot and she flung her tail upwards, using the energy blade to cut his throat, disabling any noise from him. She jumped away allowing both to fall to the ground.

They hit the trashcans and she heard the other bot around the corner sigh. She heard the sound of eyes rolling. She panicked, thinking the other would come into the alley, and stashed the two bots hastily behind one of the trashcans. Then she hid again.

There were footsteps rounding the corner, then a light flicked on. Saberwolf watched as the beam of light formed, following it with her eyes. She tried to see the individual photons but they always moved too fast. Just a bit too fast. Then she remembered that she wasn't supposed to be watching light particles, so she let her view pan out a bit

The light passed over the alley slowly, pausing when it hit the orange bot's foot.

_Shit! Now they're definitely gonna kill me._

She saw a large blue bot, just a shade lighter than the other one, and stand in front of the tow bodies. The bot knelt and examined the bodies, shoulders relaxing in an air of relief as he did so.

_They must be alive then…_

She felt relieved herself. She'd never been one to kill bots, and was glad she hadn't killed these two twins. They seemed pretty young.

_Wait a nanosec... he'll be coming after their attacker now won't he. Shit…_

She let out another instinctive growl. She instantly regretted it.

_I shouldn't have spent all that time with those wolves…_

The lighter blue bot started to rise, so she quickly dashed over to a different spot be fore he turned around. She made sure not to make any noise. The bot pulled out an energy lance and a shield with energy spikes on it, readying to attack. She looked at the spot she'd been in with confusion. Focusing on the weapons, she growled louder, with more ferocity. The bot turned again, slightly faster than before, but not fast enough to catch her before she dashed around skirting around in his blind spot until she was behind him. She noticed a weak spot on his spine that could render him unconscious if she cut it right. She waited.

The bot dropped his guard in confusion, cocking his head slightly as he stared at where she'd been. She seized the opportunity and back-flipped, flicking out her tail to cut up his spine. He crumbled forward onto the ground. She pulled him over to the other two bots and examined them more closely.

_Fuck my life…_

They were Autobot Elite Guard.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Names**

Now she was awkwardly stumbling across Detroit, following a scent trail that she hoped would lead her back to their base of command. They were all male bots. The orange one and his twin were small compared to the other one, and they were childlike in appearance. They seemed like they were too young to be on Elite Guard. The older blue bot was very barrel-chested. His legs were small in comparison, and he had a very large chin. She laughed to herself as she reflected their appearances.

_He looks like a fuckin' prick though… _

And it was true. The bot, even in unconsciousness had a very snobby, arrogant look to him. He could be considered attractive, but she couldn't get past the arrogance that was so apparent.

She dragged herself and her load around a corner and found herself standing in front of a huge blue and white ship. It was parked in a big gap between a building and the lake.

_Whoa…_

She looked at it in wonder. She'd seen lots of ships, but none that were so aesthetically pleasing. She wondered if it flew as well as it looked.

_Doubtful, it's probably too big to do much besides fly in a straight line... still, looks can be deceiving…_

She carefully walked closer and laid her burdens a few feet away from it. She had carried, or more like dragged, the smaller blue one in her mouth, and the bigger blue bot across her back with the orange bot across his chest.

_Good thing it's late at night… I must've looked really strange stumbling around like that... _

She picked up the scent of another bot that was already on board the ship. Then she heard its footsteps pacing around the ship. The ramp of the ship was still down, and she considered just walking aboard. She thought better of it though, not wanting to freak out the bot. She decided to howl to get his attention instead. There were some dogs in buildings that started howling in reply, but she was more focused on the footsteps, now quick and with a deliberate path, that were in the ship.

Soon a white and blue malebot with red markings emerged and came down the ramp. He looked at her and the three bodies on the floor with confusion, the recognition.

"S.P!" he exclaimed, jogging over, then slowing when he came closer.

He put up a hand as he approached, watching her with a careful look.

"Nice doggie…" he said slowly.

"Oh shut up! I swear all I hear from people all the time is 'doggie' this and 'doggie' that. It's fuckin' annoying! I mean, you're a Cybertronian! Can't you tell one of your own kind?" she asked.

She usually wouldn't make a big deal out of it, but that's when she was dealing with humans. This was different.

"Uhhhh….." the bot seemed too dumbfounded to say anything else.

"Wow…" she said.

She transformed and grabbed the smaller of the two blue bots and proceeded to the ship. The white and blue bot watched her for a minute, looking stupefied, then shook himself out of it and picked up the orange bot and put him over his shoulder. They left the bigger blue bot for a moment, since neither of them could carry him alone, and walked up the ramp. She let him pass her, not knowing where the medi-lab was. Once they got the twins on medical beds, they went back for the other one. The white and blue bot took up the big bot's arms, she took his legs. They carefully proceeded to the medi-lab and put him on another bed. They didn't speak.

To get to the medi-lab, they had to walk down the entry hall, up an elevator into the Bridge of the ship, and down the hall to the left. It was directly in front of them at the end of the hall.

_Long trip… good thing they aren't mortally wounded…I hope…_

She had only attacked to knock them out, not to kill. One can never be sure of these things.

The room had four beds in which the heads backed up to the left wall. The wall that was across from the entrance had a big glass window. Unable to be opened of course. The wall to the right had several built in shelves sticking out form it. Each shelf was laden with medical supplies. There was a computer and counter on the other side of the medical beds. There were boxes above the beds that connected the to the computer with wires that were inlayed in the wall. She guessed they held wired to connect to patients for monitoring.

The white and blue bot walked over to the computer and typed something on the keyboard. A hole in the right wall, just past the shelves, opened and a little medical drone came out. It rushed over to the beds and scanned each patient. It began tending to them. She watched with mild interest, leaning against one of the shelves. She was careful not to knock anything over. She watched the white and blue bot out of the corner of her eye. He was looking at her as if he wanted to say something.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm Jazz," he said after a moment of hesitation.

"Cool," she said.

She looked back to the medical drone.

"Are you going to tell me your name?" Jazz asked.

"If you ask."

Jazz was silent. She looked over at him and saw him nod his head and smirking.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"I call myself Saberwolf, but I've also been know by 'Doggie', 'Girl', and depending on the bot, 'Bitch'," she said.

"That's interesting…" Jazz said, "So are you an—"

"Autobot? No."

"Then a—"

"Decepticon? Hell no! I'm just your average bot," Saberwolf said.

"How'd you end up here?" Jazz asked.

"A ship."

Jazz laughed a bit.

"Well duh. Why are you here?" he asked.

"Cuz I wanted to be! What is it a crime for a bot to come to Earth? I musta missed the damn memo!" Saberwolf said irritably.

"Whoa! Chill! I'm just askin'. Sentinel's gonna ask me for a status report when he wakes up," Jazz said, "Well, most likely."

"Well if he wants to know, he can ask me himself," Saberwolf said, "I suppose he's the big blue bot, correct?"

"Yeah."

"He looks like a dick."

Jazz laughed.

"He has his moments. Never heard anyone brave enough to say it out loud though," Jazz said.

Saberwolf looked at the big blue bot, Sentinel. He seemed strong, but he looked like he had little experience. Not a scratch or scar, or any sign he'd ever actually been in a fight. His plating was shiny, as if it were polished on a daily basis.

_Arrogant bastard…_

"He doesn't seem all that tough."

"Well he talks smack, but can't back it up. That's what the twins and I are for. At least in his mind," Jazz said.

"And the twins' names are…?" Saberwolf asked.

"Jetfire's the orange one and the other is Jetstorm," Jazz said.

"They're the first flying Autobots I've ever seen," Saberwolf said.

"They're the only flying Autobots. Well, there's Sari, but some would say she doesn't count" Jazz said.

"And Sari is…"

"She's—"

"Uhhhnnn…"

They both turned at the new voice. The big blue bot was stirring.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Getting to Know Each Other**

**SP:**

Sentinel Prime became aware of a bot moving around him. They way it buzzed told him it was a drone.

_The medical drone?_

He blinked away the darkness, head still in a bit of a fog, and squinted at the sudden bright lights.

_Where am I…?_

As his eyes adjusted slowly to the light, he realized he was laying face down with his head facing a computer. A familiar computer.

_The medi-lab… How'd I get in the medi-lab…?_

He flinched as the medical drone worked on his spine. He remembered the alley, the strange growl and unseen attacker.

_Jazz must have tracked us down…_

As if on cue, Jazz spoke.

"S.P.?"

"Did you find our attacker?" was what Sentinel meant to ask.

Unfortunately, it came out slurred. He wasn't quite fully conscious yet.

"..Iddyooiindowwtacker…?" was what came out of his mouth.

_Dammit…_

"Huh? You okay S.P.?" Jazz asked.

"…Immmm… fffine…." Sentinel replied, speech returning slowly.

The medical drone stopped working and moved away. Sentinel blinked a bit, shaking his head to try to shake away the dark fog. Sentinel pushed himself up to a kneeling position sorely, then shifted his legs and body so he was sitting on the end of the bed. He faced where Jazz's voice had come from. He didn't look up yet, but rubbed his head and shook away the last of the fog.

"Did you find our attacker?" Sentinel said, relieved to hear himself speak coherently.

"No... Saberwolf might—" Jazz stopped suddenly.

"What's a saber wolf?" Sentinel asked looking up at Jazz.

He saw Jazz's confused look at someone to Sentinel's right, noticing an unknown figure to his right at the same time. He looked over.

"What—" his sentence caught in his throat.

He was looking at a fembot leaning against the shelves. She was shorter than Jazz, thin, but not excessively so. He instantly noticed the natural curves of her body as he looked her up and down, optics lingering on them. He forced himself, rather disdainfully, to look at her face. She had a narrow face with a pointed chin. Her helmet was black with gold accents. There was a gold band that went over the top of it that came to a point centered above a small visor. The visor was in a slightly shallow V shape. On either side of the visor there were gold strips that ran down the sides of her face to the end of the helmet, and up to the top of the helmet, pulling up away from the rest of the helmet slightly, then curling backward and out of sight over the back her head. On the sides of the helmet, about where a human's ears would be, were blue antennas sticking out of thin blue slivers of metal. She had a small pointed nose and cute little lips that were frowning slightly. She looked angry because of the shape of her visor mixed with the slight frown.

Sentinel's gaze traveled down away from her face. He noticed black shoulder plates that were rimmed in gold. Her neck was gold, and it looked kind of like the neck of one of those desk lamps that could be moved into a bunch of different shapes. She had a strange black doggish head as her chest, slightly changed into a feminine shape. He forced himself not to focus on that too much. Even though he really wanted to...

_Focus…_

He noticed her upper arms were gold, forearms black. Her hands were black, and there were little protective plates extending from her forearms that covered the back of her hands. Her waist was gold, and looked similar to her neck. There was a blue stripe that separated her waist from her hips, color wise. Her legs were completely black except for her inner thighs. Those were gold with black stripes. She also had large pouches on metal plates that attached to her hips. Those were black with gold rim, just like her shoulder plates, and knee plates. He noticed that her feet were high heeled.

The last things Sentinel notices as his gaze traveled slowly back to her face was a little blue stick that was sticking out over her right shoulder, he guessed it was the hilt of a sword, judging by the angle, and the blue pointed tip that stuck out from behind her left hip, and the green glow of her visor.

_Green optics… that's unusual…_

He'd seen blue optics, red optics, even yellow and purple optics. But never had he seen green eyes. Before now.

"Uhhhh…." He said unable to find words.

_Damn… This fembot is…wow…_

The human slang term "hot" popped into his head.

_Yeah… that._

"What Saberwolf? Why'd you give me that look?" Jazz asked.

_What look…?_

"Because I don't need you suggesting I'll do anything," the fembot said.

Sentinel guessed she was Saberwolf.

"Well you brought them here! You mighta seen the attacker," Jazz said.

Sentinel looked from one to the other, confused.

"Well, did you?" Jazz asked.

"About that…" Saberwolf said, trailing off.

"What?" Jazz prompted.

"I kinda, am the attacker," she said awkwardly.

Sentinel's optics flew open.

"What!" he yelled.

**SW:**

Saberwolf looked over at the bot called Sentinel. She glared at him, still upset by the way he'd been looking at her a moment ago. His optics wouldn't stay on her face. He looked at her with extreme interest. And not the typical, 'Oh you're a new face' interest. It was more than that.

_Not even in his dreams…_

However now he looked at her with fury.

"You bitch! Why the hell did you attack me and my team?" he yelled.

Saberwolf rolled her optics.

"Well generally, when you're being followed by two transforming jets, your mind says 'Decepticon!'" Saberwolf retorted.

"You mean the twins were following you?" Jazz asked.

"Yes," Saberwolf said, still glaring at Sentinel.

He had a strange strained look on his face, as if he were having issues remembering something.

"What's with you?" she asked.

"I think the twins were following some blue blur thing. It passed me on the street right before the twins passed overhead," Sentinel said.

"Oh yeah, when I'm in the city, I usually change my paint color to blue so I blend in with the other robot dogs. For some reason, blue is common with robot dogs around here," Saberwolf explained, "Come to think of it, I did pass you when I was running. Then I heard you turn around and head my way, so I assumed you were with them. I'd never seen a vehicle like that before."

Saberwolf looked at him, slightly amused.

"Was that what you chose to 'blend'?" she asked.

"Yes," Sentinel replied matter-of-factly.

Saberwolf laughed.

"Good job. A shiny blue truck with a big orange snowplow. You'd fit in better in Alaska," Saberwolf said critically, "Well, if you were to take away the shiny part."

Sentinel glared at her. She laughed again.

"So you thought they were Decpties, did ya?" Jazz asked, getting back on track.

"Duh. Wouldn't you, being in my situation?" Saberwolf asked.

The two bots nodded. Saberwolf rolled her optics. She looked over at the twins, Jetfire and Jetstorm. They were waking up. The medical drone backed away from them, work finished, and returned to it's hole in the wall.

"Huh? Brother, how are we back on big ship?" Jetfire asked his brother, speech coming easier for him than Sentinel, even with his strange accent.

Jetstorm shrugged.

"You got here on the 'Wolf Express'," Saberwolf said.

"Whoa!" the twins said in unison, looking at her in surprise.

"Who are you being?" Jetfire asked.

"I'm being myself," she said, "And my name's Saberwolf."

"Wolf? Brother, wolf is being what attacked us!" Jetstorm said.

"She is not being wolf, she is being Wolf of Saber!" Jetfire said.

"Oh," Jetstorm said.

Saberwolf tired of listening to their conversation and instead focused on trying to identify their accents.

_Russian maybe? Or Jamaican. Although it doesn't really sound like either…_

She gave up on that too. The twins were still debating on what had attacked them.

"Anyone gonna get Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb up to speed?" Saberwolf asked, nodding over at the twins.

Sentinel and Jazz gave her funny looks, then Jazz explained the situation to the twins.

_Apparently earth terms are lost on these bots…_

After the whole situation was cleared up, the group was silent. No one knew what to say next. Saberwolf examined each bot, observing them. The two twins got up and excused themselves. Saberwolf guessed they were going off to do something that interested them more than conversation. Jazz sat in the chair next to the computer and crossed his arms over his chest in silence. His face was unreadable with the visor. Saberwolf couldn't even tell who or what he was looking at. Sentinel was looking around the room awkwardly, as if he was waiting for someone to break the silence. Saberwolf watched him. His eyes met hers. She stared him down. She could see herself reflected in his optics. Her face was unreadable as Jazz's because of her visor. Sentinel stared back straightening up as he did so, as if trying to be intimidating. Saberwolf smirked and continued to stare into his optics. He had a cocky look in them, as if he knew he'd win the staring contest. Saberwolf stopped smirking and looked at Sentinel intensely. She narrowed her eyes, even though he could not see them. Sentinel continued to look back, but something in his optics changed. He looked uneasy. His eyes narrowed, as if trying to force it away. Eventually, he blinked and looked away. Saberwolf smirked, feeling slightly triumphant.

"So why does he call you S.P.?" she asked, deciding to break the silence.

Jazz, who had been watching the staring contest with a slight smirk answered.

"It's an abbreviation. Sentinel Prime, S.P." he said, "Easier to say."

Saberwolf nodded. There was more silence. Sentinel looked at Saberwolf through narrowed eyes. He crossed his arms.

"So what's your story? How'd you get here on Earth? And why are you here?" Sentinel Prime asked.

"On a ship. Cuz I wanted to," Saberwolf said simply.

"Why?" Sentinel asked.

Saberwolf glared at him.

"Why do you need to know?" she asked.

"Because as an Autobot Elite Guard officer, I need to know where Cybertronians are going and why. To make sure there isn't any trouble," Sentinel said.

Saberwolf laughed.

"That's bullshit. You're just nosey," she said, "And if that were true, the Autobots wouldn't have let me leave Cybertron by myself when I was younger."

Sentinel and Jazz looked at her with interest.

"When did you leave Cybertron?" Jazz asked.

"When I was a youngbot. About four stellar-cycles after my parents died," Saberwolf said.

The two bots looked at her in shock.

"I'm sorry…" Jazz said softly.

"It's fine. Happened a while ago," Saberwolf said.

There was a moment of silence.

"How old are you?" Sentinel asked.

"'Bout as old as you," Saberwolf said.

"How do you know how old I am?" Sentinel asked.

"Estimate. But does age really matter?" Saberwolf asked.

Sentinel didn't say anything.

"How long have you been on Earth?" Jazz asked.

"Two stellar-cycles," Saberwolf said.

"That's a long time," Jazz said.

"Yeah I guess," Saberwolf said.

"So what'd you do in between leaving Cybertron and coming here?" Sentinel asked.

"Exploring here and there, doing what I want, etcetera, etcetera," Saberwolf said.

"What you want? What does that consist of?" Sentinel said, eyes narrowing.

Saberwolf smirked but didn't answer. Instead she looked up at Jazz.

"So what are you all here on Earth for? You're not supposed to be," she asked.

"How do you know that?" Jazz asked.

"I know who the Earth team is. Everyone knows who they are. You're not them, so you're not supposed to be here," Saberwolf said, "Usually."

"Well if you didn't notice, Miss Saber-Wolf," Sentinel said, enunciating her name improperly and glaring at her, "We're Autobot Elite Guard, so therefore we have to keep tabs on all Autobot forces."

"A call wouldn't do?" Saberwolf retorted, looking at Sentinel with disdain.

"That's our business," Sentinel said arrogantly.

"Sentinel likes to check up on Optimus in person. It's their thing," Jazz said.

Saberwolf nodded slowly. Sentinel glared over at Jazz. Jazz shrugged and looked back at him.

"Okay, so what's your thing?" Saberwolf asked Jazz.

Jazz looked at Saberwolf about to reply, but something in his face changed as he did so. It became unreadable again and he looked at the ground. Then he walked slowly out of the medi-lab without a word.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Agreement**

There was an awkward silence after Jazz left. Saberwolf considered following him, but Sentinel was watching her like a hawk, and she was determined not to show anything he might see as a sign of weakness. So she continued to lean on the shelves.

"Eh… Sorry 'bout Jazz, he's a little, off today," Sentinel said finally," We all are I guess."

_Yeah, apparently…_

Saberwolf said nothing.

"So… I guess… uh…" Sentinel seemed unable to find something to talk about.

Saberwolf rolled her eyes.

"Do you always find conversation necessary?" she asked.

"I don't like silence," Sentinel said.

"Or you're scared of it," Saberwolf said.

"I'm not scared of silence!" Sentinel said defensively.

"So you just like listening to your own voice then," Saberwolf said.

"I do not!" Sentinel said, voice sounding stressed.

"Yes you do, because otherwise you wouldn't need to be so defensive right now," Saberwolf said.

"I'm not being defensive!" Sentinel said loudly.

"Okay, I believe you," Saberwolf said sarcastically.

Sentinel made an annoyed "grr" sound. Saberwolf smirked.

"What's with you anyway? You just barge on in here and attack my team, then say you thought we were Decepticreeps and expect that to make it okay? How do I know you're not some Decepticon spy? How do I know you're not some crazy mass murderer who goes around killing bots for fun? How—"

"If I were some crazy mass murderer and you didn't know it, I'd be concerned for how the Autobots are running things," Saberwolf cut in.

"Not the point!" Sentinel said.

"Well what is the point then?" Saberwolf asked.

"Who _are_ you?" Sentinel said.

"I already told you about myself!" Saberwolf said, voice rising as she got annoyed.

"I mean what do you want? What's your story? Why are you on Earth? You said yourself that only the 'Earth Team' was supposed to be here," Sentinel said.

"I'm here because I want to be. Remember I also said I do what I want," Saberwolf said.

"You said you _did_ what you want. As in past tense," Sentinel said.

"Do you have to practice to be this retarded, or does it come naturally?" Saberwolf asked.

"Huh?" Sentinel looked confused.

_Well that answers that question…_

"Obviously I would do what I wanted now, if I did what I wanted in the past," Saberwolf said.

"Okay then… What made you _want_ to come to Earth?" Sentinel asked.

"Honestly, I wanted to meet the bots who put Megatron in the stockade," Saberwolf said, "Because I thought I'd….. I'd never live to see the day it was done."

Saberwolf hoped Sentinel wouldn't notice her falter. He narrowed his eyes but said nothing.

"Okay, but couldn't you come to Cybertron and ask the rest of the Autobots to see them?" Sentinel said.

"Yes, and it would never happen. I don't rely on other people to do things for me. If I want something, I go get it myself," Saberwolf said.

Sentinel was silent.

"Now can we cut the idle chit chat shit? Cuz I really don't feel like talking. In fact, I feel like leaving. Sorry for attacking you and the Wonder Twins. Actually, I'm only sorry for attacking the twins. In all honesty, you seem like you could use an ass kicking from time to time," Saberwolf said.

Sentinel glared at her. Saberwolf smirked. She stood straight and started walking to, and out, the door.

"Hey wait!" Sentinel ran after her.

"What?" Saberwolf asked, not stopping, not turning.

She could sense Sentinel's aggravation at this.

"You can't just walk away like that! Don't you have any social graces?" Sentinel asked.

Saberwolf shook her head. She went around the corner and walked to the ramp that was still open, leading out to the city.

"Social graces? Are we really gonna talk about social graces?" she asked.

"Well, no. Just…" Sentinel stopped.

Saberwolf turned around and put her hands on her hips. She glared into Sentinel's optics. He looked back mouth open but no words coming out.

**SP:**

Sentinel Prime stood at the top of the ramp and stared like an idiot at Saberwolf. She was standing with her hands on her hips and was looking right at him. Or not. He couldn't tell with the visor. He was aggravated. Nothing he said got to her. She always had something to say back. And he had nothing that could impress her. Nothing. And that's what aggravated him the most. He wanted her to like him. But it seemed impossible.

He knew he looked stupid standing there with his mouth open with nothing to say, but he couldn't think of anything. All he knew was he had to find some way to get her to stay.

"Uuuhhh…" was all that came out.

"What? You're gonna just stand there like an idiot and gawk at me?" Saberwolf asked.

Sentinel just stared at her.

"Right. Goodbye." Saberwolf turned away and stared walking down the ramp.

"No!" Sentinel thought out loud.

"What now?" Saberwolf said, turning around, seeming to look past him.

"I… You…" Sentinel couldn't find any complete sentences that would help him.

"What's going on here?" came Jazz's voice over Sentinel's shoulder.

He turned to find Jazz standing behind him with what seemed to be a questioning look.

_I swear with all these visors... I'm never gonna be able to tell what anyone is thinking or looking at…_

There was a moment of silence.

"You're okay now then?" Saberwolf said finally.

Jazz turned his head to her. He nodded. He looked at Sentinel.

"What are you doing?" he asked, leaning his head closer so they could talk more privately.

"I'm trying to get her to stay a little longer. Be social," Sentinel said quietly, words returning to him.

Jazz looked up at Saberwolf.

"You're leavin' already?" he asked.

"Well, yeah. Quite honestly, dumb ass here is annoying the shit out of me." Saberwolf said.

"He tends to do that to new bots. Well any bots." Jazz said with a chuckle.

Saberwolf smirked.

"So you're not stickin' around?" Jazz said, "That's too bad. I was kinda hopin' to make an Autobots outta you. With the moves you pulled on S.P. you'd be a perfect asset to have against the Decepties. At least that's the impression I got. You seem like a great warrior."

"Really?" Saberwolf asked, sounding skeptical.

"Yeah," Jazz said.

Sentinel looked between the two. He wondered what Saberwolf would say. Saberwolf seemed to ponder the idea for a moment. She crossed her arms.

"You bots are a strange lot," she said.

"Yeah, well that's just us," Jazz said.

Saberwolf looked at them for a moment more. Then she smirked and walked back up the ramp. She passed the Sentinel and Jazz without a word.

"Now where are you going?" Sentinel asked.

"Well to join the Autobots, you have to go to Cybertron," Saberwolf said, as if talking to a small child, "To get there you have to take a ship because it's a long, long, journey. You guys have the ship. So I have to stick with you guys. Understand?"

Saberwolf looked at him with a smirk still on her lips. Sentinel didn't like the condescending tone she used, but he couldn't find anything to say back.

"Well alright then! We can finally take off now," Jazz said.

Saberwolf stepped onto the ship and disappeared. Sentinel looked after her in utter shock. Then he looked at Jazz, feeling his jaw agape.

"What the fuck just happened?" Sentinel said.

"I recruited an Autobot. That's one of my jobs right?" Jazz asked.

"How the hell did you convince her to do anything?" Sentinel asked.

"I didn't. I just told her she'd be a great warrior and she decided the rest," Jazz said.

"You amaze me," Sentinel said, shaking his head.

Jazz turned and face the entrance to the ship, a smile on his face.

"Yeah, I know."

He walked onto the ship, following Saberwolf. Sentinel looked after him. No one could guess this bot had just walked out of a room with a frown. It really did amaze Sentinel. He shook his head and walked onto the ship, raising the ramp after him. He straightened up and stood tall, getting ready to take control of himself and his team again. Then he walked to the Bridge.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Hiding Something**

**SW:**

The journey to Cybertron would take three days, so Saberwolf decided to get a feel for her surroundings. She planned to spend the entire day exploring. As she wondered around in wolf mode, she went over the previous night:

Jazz had told her she seemed to be a great warrior. He said she'd be a good asset against the remaining Decepticons. She'd thought about that. She figured if a bot could tell she had skill just by hearing what she could do, without even seeing it himself, she must be good. She knew she was. After all, she spent basically her entire life in a constant state of battle. She knew the Autobots had little to nothing to offer her. After all, Megatron was already behind bars. Her biggest goal was already taken care of for her. She had no other direction to go, so she accepted what was offered. Besides, it would be fun to fight back against the bots who had made her life hell for so many years. Instead of running away…

So she'd boarded the ship again. After explaining the situation to the twins, Sentinel and Jazz gave her a small tour and gave her the medi-lab for sleeping quarters. They said all of the other rooms were not set up for sleeping quarters besides the brig. Saberwolf opted for the medi-lab. After saying awkward goodnights and the two left her there. She had looked around the lab, but found nothing of interest, so she set up a small place in the corner to curl up in to sleep. She like sleeping in wolf mode, so a corner was all she needed. She didn't like to take up more space than necessary. Sleep failed her for a while, so she'd started planning what to do the next day...

So far, she'd discovered nothing of interest. Just lots and lots of storage rooms. Medical supplies, spare metal scraps, replacement lights, outlets, computer screens. Saberwolf figured they must travel in this ship a lot because they had tons of supplies for upkeep of it. But some of the rooms were locked, which made Saberwolf ever so curious about what was inside them.

She faced one now. A locked room with a pass card slot and a keypad for entering a password. It looked simple enough, and she was sure she could crack it. And quickly too. She tested the area for scents and footsteps or any other signs of bots nearby, then transformed into robot mode and rested her hands on the keypad. It lit up at her touch.

PLEASE SLIDE PASS CARD

Saberwolf pulled a small card out of her hip pocket. It was a special card made for hacking locks like these. She slid it into the pass card spot and entered series of numbers and code at the same time.

_5, 1, 6. 5, 8, 9x. ABJ900, #, %, alpha, 3, 2, 8…_

The code would activate the hacking card and trick the machine into thinking she was the last person to enter the room.

WELCOME SENTINEL PRIME

Saberwolf narrowed her optics with intrigue.

_Sentinel huh…What's he hiding…?_

The keypad beeped softly and the door slid open. Saberwolf removed her hacking card. She entered and the door closed behind her. She looked around and was immediately disappointed. It was a weapons locker.

_A weapons locker? What the hell? A weapons locker locked up isn't suspicious at all! This was a complete waste of time._

Saberwolf growled in agitation. But as she prepared to leave, her optics fell upon a small black box under one of the shelves of ammo. She recognized the symbol on it. It was one of Lockdown's storage boxes. She cocked her head and walked over to the shelf. She knelt and pulled out the box. Lifting the lid gently, she peered inside. She caught a glimpse of two holo-note pads, and reached in to pull one out. Then she felt the vibration of footsteps through the floor. She snapped the box shut and slid it back in place, jumping to her feet almost simultaneously. She transformed and dashed silently out of the room, door locking automatically behind her, and ran down the hall to the bridge.

The ship was on autopilot, so no one was there. She dashed to the pilot's chair and sat in it, folding her tail over her feet. She twisted her ears back towards the footsteps. They were walking quickly and deliberately. Saberwolf closed her optics and allowed her senses of hearing and touch to take their place. She felt the vibrations of the footsteps as they flowed through the floor, up the chair, and to her feet. She felt them rebound back to the bot that was walking and traced them up and down the body of the bot. She got a vague image of the bot's structure. She uttered a low growl and listened to the sound waves as they traveled to and bounced off of the bot. She felt those vibrations through the rest of her body and started to form a better picture of the bot. His height and build and style of walking were exactly like…

_Sentinel…_

Saberwolf opened her optics and tried to find something to do. She knew Sentinel would find sitting there and doing nothing to be suspicious, or at least strange. He was passing the room she was just in and was headed towards the bridge. Saberwolf made like she was staring out the viewing screen at the stars as they whizzed by them.

_3, 2, 1…_

Sentinel stepped onto the bridge. He stopped, probably looking at her, then took slower, softer steps in her direction. Saberwolf was amused by the fact that he thought he could sneak up on her.

"You're not a sneaky bot Sentinel. I can hear you coming a mile away," Saberwolf said, pushing against the control panel with her paw to spin the chair around to face him.

He had a look on his face like a child caught sneaking into the kitchen for a late night snack, shoulder hunched, arms bent at the elbows, hands near his chin, one leg frozen in the motion of making a step. He snapped up straight and made an "ahem" noise. Saberwolf sat tall and stared at him. He looked her up and down.

"Funny… For some reason I thought you would have a visor as a wolf," Sentinel said.

"What does a wolf need with a visor?" Saberwolf asked.

"And you can talk in this mode… how does that work?" Sentinel said, ignoring her question.

"Robots don't have lips, so all of our dialogue comes from vocal synthesizers in our throats," Saberwolf said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, right," Sentinel said.

He narrowed his optics as he looked at her.

"You don't have pupils…" he said.

"I have protective shields over my optics in this mode," Saberwolf said, "To keep them from getting cracked. They just happen to do basically the same thing as a visor does."

"Make it impossible to tell what someone's looking at," Sentinel said, disdain in his voice.

Saberwolf chuckled.

"Inconvenient isn't it? For you," Saberwolf said.

Sentinel didn't reply.

"How'd you get this mode anyway? Organics aren't supposed to be compatible with us," he said after a moment of silence.

"Obviously in didn't scan an organic wolf," Saberwolf said.

"There are robotic wolves?" Sentinel asked.

"Yeah. Sumdac creates a lot of robotic animals for museums and zoos. To keep the wildlife from going extinct. They put fake fur and muscle stuff over them so they look real," Saberwolf explained, "I scanned one before they did all of that."

"I see… So why are you so big then? Wouldn't the replicas of the wolves be the same size as normal wolves? And they're tiny," Sentinel said.

"Well obviously I wouldn't fit into a disguise that small. I adapted the size to fit me using the same ratio as average wolf to average human. It wasn't that difficult," Saberwolf said.

"We can do that?" Sentinel asked.

"And again you prove how much of a moron you are," Saberwolf said, "Didn't you pay attention when you were taught about changing your alternate mode? It's taught to every bot at an early age."

"I was told to use things that fit my size," Sentinel said.

"It's recommended for those who don't want to spend the time calculating," Saberwolf said, "But I guess that's why you wouldn't know. You like to do things the easy way, don't you?"

"I do not!" Sentinel said.

Saberwolf cocked her head skeptically at him.

"Anyway…" Sentinel said, "Did that take you a long time?"

"No. Several stellar-cycles ago I downloaded a software program that automatically did the conversions upon scanning. So I can basically scan anything I want," Saberwolf said.

"That's cool," Sentinel said.

"Yep."

Saberwolf jumped down from the chair. She walked past Sentinel and headed back towards the medi-lab. Her exploration plans were halted, but she'd found something very interesting to asked Jazz about. So she didn't feel too bad about not continuing.

_It's probably all storage anyway…_

"What were you doing anyway?" Sentinel called after her.

"Looking at the stars. You should try it sometime. It's actually kind of interesting," Saberwolf said, not looking back.

**SP:**

Sentinel Prime watched Saberwolf walk away with a strange feeling like she was beginning to tolerate him. The thought made him feel accomplished in a small way. He looked out of the viewing screen at the stars zipping by for a moment.

_This is boring…_

He turned and walked back down the hallway he'd entered from. He paused when he reached the weapons locker.

_I could have sworn I heard someone tampering with something…_

He narrowed his optics at the keypad.

_Let's just check…_

Sentinel touched the keypad to activate it. He pulled out his pass card and put it in the slot.

WELCOME SENTINEL PRIME

The keypad beeped and the door opened. He looked around at everything. It all seemed to be in place. He looked down at the black box under one of the shelves. It was in the exact same spot as it always was.

_Hmm. Guess no one was in here after all._

Sentinel knelt and pulled out the box. He opened it and looked at the two holo-note pads inside. He pulled one out and turned it on. He read it.

_Lockdown_

_Decepticon bounty hunter_

_Wanted for the murder and kidnapping of the following bots:_

Sentinel skipped the next few sections.

_Autobots are, under no circumstances, to make any deals with this bot, nor ask him to find another bot they may be after. Bounty hunting is illegal, and this bot is to be arrested on sight and brought to trial for his crimes against Cybertronian society…_

Sentinel turned off the holo-note and put it back in the box.

_One of many rules I've broken… not the most consequential though…_

Sentinel turned on the other one and read it.

_Sentinel,_

_If you're reading this, you probably already dealt with the Starscream clone. _

_Sorry man, but it's a tough universe. I was offered a better deal. I have to look out for myself. But I'll look forward to doing business with you again some other time. I'm sure there's lots of bots you're after. _

_Lockdown._

_Oh and by the way, tell Prowl I've got some new mods if he wants to give them a try. _

Sentinel turned that holo-note off right away. He shoved it back into the box and shoved the box back under the shelf.

_Yeah… I'll make sure Prowl gets the message._

Sentinel didn't know Prowl very well. He hadn't considered him worth his time. Turns out the bot was worth more than he realized. If it weren't for Prowl, the Autobots wouldn't have Megatron in the stockades and Earth would have most likely been destroyed. Not to mention Optimus and the rest of his team dead along with the planet. And Jazz would be gone too, and Sentinel relied on Jazz. Not just as his second in command, but as one of his few true friends. Sentinel owed Prowl a lot. All of Cybertron did. The entire galaxy did.

_Because if Megatron was still out there…_

Sentinel shuddered at the thought. He stood and walked to the door. It opened as he approached it. He took one last look at the box, then left. The door locked behind him.

**SW:**

Saberwolf stumbled through the dark, dank, cluttered tunnel. She could barely see where she was going. The tunnel kept getting smaller and smaller. She was forced to crawl on her hands and knees, then her stomach as she advanced. She began feeling claustrophobic. She considered turning back, but never had the chance. As soon as the thought crossed her mind, dark laughter filled the tunnel and overwhelmed all of her senses except for hearing and touch. She fumbled around blindly, running into a wall. She couldn't move any further. The laughter got louder, and it seemed to push her against the wall until she broke through and fell. Down, down, down. Arms reached out and scratched at her, ripping her plating from her body. She could feel her screams ripping through her throat. She was terrified. She writhed and kicked and tried to fight back, but she could not see what it was she was fighting. Then, as she was stripped to her skeletal structure, she heard it. Laughter. And puncturing the darkness were two gleaming red optics. They glared at her with malicious happiness. Fear and hate and terror mixed within her. Saberwolf squeezed her optics shut and tried to shut out everything. She wanted to die in peace.

"Wake up Saberwolf…" said an evil, twisted voice, "Wake up… Open your optics …"

She refused to obey. The claws ripped at her skeleton. Saberwolf screamed as she received a heavy blow to her left side.

"Wake up… wake… wake up…" the voice changed as it continued to speak, "Wake up… open your optics … it's okay…"

The voice became softer, mellower. Saberwolf carefully opened her optics. A bright light greeted her, causing her to squint.

"Wake up Saberwolf," the voice was Jazz's.

As the world came into focus, Saberwolf recognized the medi-lab. Her plating was all there, no scrapes. Saberwolf felt completely fine. Except for the sore on her side, there was no evidence of her being hurt. She blinked, but her view went fuzzy and the bright lights burned her optics. She decided to keep them closed.

"Saberwolf? Are you awake?" came Jazz's voice.

Saberwolf tried to sit up, but she couldn't lift her arms or legs. They were being held down by something. Saberwolf panicked and struggled against the restraints.

"Let me go!" her voice came out raspy and she had no idea what she was yelling at.

She tried pulling up her arms and legs, she tried to kick and twist, but she was weary, and everything she tried was futile. She arched her back away from the surface she was being held against, but still she couldn't get free. Her spark pounded and she started writhing around without any thought to what she was doing.

"Let go of me!" she screamed, voice still coming out raspy and unclear.

"Stop struggling, will ya?" came Sentinel's loud voice.

It startled Saberwolf and she struggled even more.

"Dammit Sentinel," Jazz said quietly, "Let me talk to her."

Saberwolf opened her optics a bit. She saw Jazz's and Sentinel's faces above her, with bright lights surrounding them. She felt confused.

_What the fuck's going on…_

"Saberwolf, calm down. You're okay. We'll let you go when you're calm," Jazz said.

Saberwolf blinked. She tried to calm down. She closed her optics and tried to collect herself.

_Calm, calm, calm…_

"Saberwolf? You calm?" Jazz asked.

Saberwolf nodded.

"I'm calm…" she said in her raspy voice.

She opened her optics to see Jazz looking away at something, then turning to nod at Sentinel. The restraints on her arms lifted.

Saberwolf sat up wearily. She put her hands on her head. She didn't like this lack of awareness of her surroundings. She felt vulnerable. Exposed. She looked around. She saw the twins holding her legs down still. They were covered in scratches and dents. Some of the scratches were glowing orange. There were many similar marks on the walls. The supplies from the shelves were all over the floor, and Sentinel and Jazz were damaged too. However the had worse injuries than Jetfire and Jetstorm. Jazz had a huge scratch down the right side of his face and several deep scratches on his forearms and his legs. Sentinel had it the worst. He had three scratches down his big jaw, several bite marks on his neck, a chunk missing from his right arm, and his right hang was mangled into something that was almost unrecognizable as a hand. Saberwolf's optics focused on that for a while, then Sentinel hid it behind his back. Saberwolf looked up at him, but he wouldn't meet her gaze. Suddenly she became extremely aware of the pain in her left side. She touched the spot with her hands and found a big dent. She flinched.

"You can thank S.P. for that," Jazz said with a disapproving tone.

"Hey! I thought she was attacking us for real! I didn't realize she was asleep."

Saberwolf blinked several times, processing this information. She had been asleep.

_So the whole thing was a dream…_

She closed her optics in relief. Then she opened them and looked around again. She started piecing together the situation.

She'd had a nightmare. In the nightmare, something was attacking her and she was writhing around trying to fight back. When she woke up, there were singed gashed in the walls, and several scratches on the other bots. Sentinel had bite marks all over him. And some of those marks were singed as well.

_My energy blades? Did I attack them in my sleep?_

"Did I…?" Saberwolf gestured to everything in the room, dropping her arm immediately afterwards because she was so tired.

"Yeah. You were… sleepwalking." Jazz said.

"And I attacked you…" Saberwolf said, looking away.

She felt bad. Even if she wasn't necessarily friends with these bots, they definitely weren't her enemies. She didn't feel they deserved to be attacked, whether it was meant or not.

_Well maybe Sentinel does, but not the others…_

"Sorry…" she said.

"Hey no worries. Everyone has nightmares," Jazz said, "Medic!"

The medic drone came out from its little chamber in the wall and started tending to the group. It took care of Sentinel first. He flinched a bit when it got to his hand. The bot took off the outer plating and worked on fixing the broken skeletal structure. There were a few oil leaks and frayed wires too. When the drone was done, it vended new pieces of plating from a storage compartment in its chest and put them on. Sentinel's hand looked good as new.

"USE HAND AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE," the drone said in its monotone voice, "FOR TWENTY-FOUR CYCLES."

Then the bot went on to the others. It came to Saberwolf last.

"DOES NOT RECOGNIZE," the drone said, turning to Jazz

"New patient," Jazz said.

"NAME," the drone said to Saberwolf.

"Saberwolf," Saberwolf responded.

"SORRY. DID NOT UNDERSTAND. PLEASE TRY AGAIN."

"Saberwolf," Saberwolf's voice was too messed up for her name to come out right.

"SORRY. DID NOT UNDERSTAND. PLEASE TRY AGAIN."

"Record later. Patient needs immediate attention," Jazz said.

"UNDERSTOOD."

The drone scanned Saberwolf to see what was wrong. Then it shot a red laser at her throat. It burned, but Saberwolf refrained from moving or coughing. The bot worked with the laser for about a minute, then stopped.

"VOCALS REPARED. NAME."

"Saberwolf," Saberwolf said, relieved to hear her voice come out normal again.

The drone scanned Saberwolf again. It played her name back then said she was recognized. Then it went back to its hole.

There was a moment of silence after that. Saberwolf, feeling her energy return to her a bit, stood and began cleaning up the mess she made. The others followed suit. After all the medical supplies were picked up, Saberwolf noticed her sword sticking out of a wall. The twins saw it at the same time and ran over to pull it out. They both tried individually but it wouldn't budge. It was stuck almost all the way in. only the handle and a small part of the blade were still out. The twins tried working together to pull it out but it still wouldn't move. Jazz walked over and tried to help them. The trio stopped and stared at the handle with exasperated expressions. Saberwolf laughed to herself and walked over. She held the handle and it glowed as an energy blade. It pulled out from the wall with ease, leaving behind a blackened hole that was glowing around the edges. The three bots looked at her with surprise on their faces, then turned and walked away. Saberwolf put it into the sheath that attached to her back. She walked over to join the others.

"So I guess we're up for the day," Sentinel said, "Might as well get started on our work."

"Oh how joyous," Jetstorm said sarcastically.

"Yes, chores! That is being completely fun!" Jetfire said in the same tone.

The two of them left the medi-lab shaking their heads and mumbling to each other.

"I'll go get started on cleaning the ship," Sentinel said.

Saberwolf and Jazz gave him strange looks.

"What?" Sentinel asked, "It means I don't have to repair this mess."

Sentinel laughed and followed the twins out. Saberwolf turned and looked at the dents and gashed in the walls.

"Wonderful," she said.

"I'll help you," Jazz said, "Come on, let's go get some tools."

Saberwolf nodded and the two of them left the medi-lab.

**SP:**

Sentinel hid around the corner and listened to Jazz and Saberwolf talking as they left the medi-lab.

"So… Musta been a real bad nightmare," Jazz said.

"I don't want to talk about it," Saberwolf said.

"Okay," Jazz said.

Sentinel peeked around the corner to watch. Saberwolf was looking back at him when he did. She stared at him for a while with and unreadable look, then turned her head forward and the two bots disappeared down the hall. Sentinel blinked with confusion, then slipped back into the medi-lab.

He studied the marks on the wall. His hand throbbed as he did. He rubbed it as he thought.

_She sleepwalks and attacks us while having a nightmare. But what could she possibly dream about that would cause that kind of reaction?_

"I don't want to talk about it," Saberwolf's voice repeated in his head.

_Won't talk about it… what is she hiding…?_

Sentinel narrowed his optics.

_I guess I'll have to find out…_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Returning Home**

**SW:**

Saberwolf named the planets of the solar system as they came out of light speed.

_Jungle Planet, Speed Planet, Junkion, Gigantion..._

There were more, but she couldn't remember the names to all of them.

"Okay. Someone go get Saberwolf and tell her we're gonna land soon," Jazz said, unaware she was standing at the back of the Bridge.

She didn't bother to make her presence known. Jetfire got up and walked past into the hall, then he stopped and came back and looked over at her.

"She is already being here!" he said.

The group looked and jumped a bit in surprise.

"Oh… that's cool then," Jazz said.

Saberwolf didn't acknowledge. Instead she was still, leaning against the wall staring at Cybertron as they approached it. She looked in awe. She'd forgotten how big Cybertron City was. The whole planet was basically covered in it. Now that she thought about it, Cybertron City was pretty much the only city on Cybertron. It made her wonder why the even bothered adding the City part. But that wasn't the most important thing on her mind.

What she really wanted to know was why she was feeling so indifferent about coming here. It felt like just another distant planet she was traveling to. This was supposed to be her home. But she felt no sense of homecoming. She began to realize how detached she really was. This planet was foreign. She was unsure what it would look like when she got down there, what the bots would look like. Her only knowledge of the planet was what she'd absorbed as a child. And that wasn't much.

These thoughts made her feel somewhat sad. She couldn't think of a single thing that really linked her to this planet besides being the place she was forged.

_If this place isn't home, where is?_

It was a question no one could answer for her, and she had no clue what the answer was herself.

Jazz had been talking to her while she thought. She'd been ignoring him purposefully, trying to sort out her thoughts. Now that she realized this was futile, she decided to pay attention to him. She shook her head and pretended she hadn't heard him speaking.

"What was that?" she asked.

"We need to go to the exiting platform. We're gonna land in a few minutes," Jazz said, sounding annoyed.

"Oh, okay. Sorry, I was lost in thought."

It wasn't a total lie.

"It's chill. It can be nerve rackin' returnin' home after a long while," Jazz said, tone changing to a more understanding one.

Saberwolf was going to tell him she didn't feel nervous, but she realized she did. They started walking towards the exiting platform.

"Has it changed a lot?" she asked, although she knew she wouldn't be able to tell the difference even if it had.

"Depends on where ya go. Some places changed completely in the recent stellar-cycles, others not at all," Jazz said.

"Is Gear Head Place still there?" she asked.

"That group home? Down by that oil place?" Jazz asked.

"Yeah."

"I think it was torn down and moved somewhere else."

"Oh…"

Saberwolf didn't know whether to feel happy or sad. She felt relieved they moved it out of that nasty neighborhood. It had been a terrible place full of terrible bots. Not a good place for young bots. It had been useful for her, but she knew a lot of kids who hated it there. But it was too bad she couldn't go back. She wanted to thank some of the bots at the oil rig for helping her sneak off planet. But now she had no official ties there and it would be suspicious for her to randomly go to a bad part of town for no apparent reason.

"Why do you ask?" Jazz asked.

"I used to live there after my parents died," Saberwolf said.

"Oh… Sorry…" Jazz said, sounding sadly surprised.

"It was a long time ago," Saberwolf said.

She felt Jazz's eyes on her but she continued to look forward as the walked. Jazz looked ahead again.

"It'll be a few months before you get into boot camp. They just had a big group go. Do you have a place to stay while you wait?" he asked.

Saberwolf considered whether to say yes or to tell the truth. She had no reason to lie to him.

"I'll find a place," she said.

Jazz was silent for a moment.

"I'll talk with some bots on base and see if they'll let you stay in a housing unit there," he said.

Saberwolf felt a surge of angry pride.

"I don't need help," she said bitterly.

Jazz stopped. Saberwolf stopped and turned to face him. He looked surprised.

"Hey! Chill! There's no need to get all worked up," he said, "I'm just tryin' to help out."

He looked hurt. Saberwolf felt bad. She didn't want to hurt his feelings by turning him down. Her pride sometimes got the best of her.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean to be rude or hurtful. I just don't like help," Saberwolf said, thinking her apology would mean nothing.

To her surprise, he gave her an understanding look.

"It's chill. But you might want to work on that pride of yours. It can get you in trouble in boot camp," Jazz warned.

"No offense, but you're Drill Instructors don't scare me. I've… dealt with worse," Saberwolf said, cursing herself silently for nearly saying something else.

She felt Jazz watching her. But he didn't say anything. They'd reached the exiting platform.

"There you are! What took so long?" Sentinel asked.

Saberwolf said nothing. She took up a spot behind the twins and stood silently. Her thoughts were again on the strangeness that she didn't feel Cybertron was her home.

"She's nervous about coming home," she heard Jazz whispering to Sentinel.

_Not really…_

She was nervous, but not about coming home. She was nervous about someone recognizing her. As far as Cybertron was concerned, she was a runaway that had never been found. But at that time she went by a different name.

_What was my name before I left?_

She couldn't remember. She brushed it off. It wasn't important.

Sentinel was looking at her curiously. She could tell he was wondering what she was thinking. He was terrible at reading into things like that. That much she had gathered within just three days.

_He acts as though a visor makes a difference. Not if you know how to read body language and the _rest _of their faces._

She smirked a bit with amusement.

"LANDING IN TWENTY SECONDS AND COUNTING," the computer asked.

Sentinel turned around and stood as tall as he could. The rest of the group stood in a pattern that made it clear Sentinel was the leader. Jazz was at his right but slightly behind him, the twins at his left and slightly behind. Saberwolf took a spot behind Jazz and Sentinel, trying to keep out of sight of anyone who may be on the ground. The ship shook as it hit. The others where holding onto straps from the ceiling to brace themselves. Saberwolf tried not to laugh at it. She stood normally, adjusting her body so she wouldn't fall. It seemed silly for them to need help to stand for such a minuscule bump.

The door opened with a hiss, the ramp extending and lowering. It made a soft thud as touched the ground. The group walked down the ramp. They moved as one. They walked with their heads high and backs straight. They had an air of pride and accomplishment. Saberwolf was impressed. She got a feeling that told her they deserved it. Well, Jazz and the twins. She wasn't so sure about Sentinel. She moved with them trying not to stand out. When they got off the ramp it closed and there was a small group of Autobot awaiting them. Saberwolf stifled a gasp when she looked at who was there.

_Perceptor, Alpha Trion, Ultra Magnus…_

Her optics went wide. These were the bigwigs of the Autobots. She had seen pictures of them, heard about them, but she never thought she'd be able to physically see them. At least not without stasis-cuffs on her wrists and a Stockade sentence being held over her head.

_I don't believe this…_

She blinked several times, thinking they might disappear, and that she was imagining it. But they were still there. Saberwolf tried to keep her jaw from going slack.

Then she noticed something peculiar. Ultra Magnus was sitting. In a hover chair.

_What…? What happened to him…?_

She was glad no one could see through her visor to see her staring. She noticed he had some soldered lines on his left arm. He had a long line down the left side of his face. Saberwolf could tell he'd had extensive repair to his left side.

"Sentinel Prime, Jazz, Jetfire, Jetstorm, welcome home," Ultra Magnus said, voice and eyes filled with strength despite his appearance.

He stood slowly, a slight look of pain flashing on his face, then fading quickly. He held his right arm out to shake hands with Sentinel as they approached.

"You're on your feet sir!" Sentinel said with surprise; there was an underlying tone of respect, and jealously, in his voice.

"It gets easier every solar-cycle," Ultra Magnus said.

"His wounds are healing well. Slowly yes, but well all the same," Perceptor said in his strange, monotone voice.

"That's great to hear," Sentinel said.

"Yes, yes. Not to be a conversation killer, but we must get down to business. If your team would follow us back to the conference room" Alpha Trion said, voice slightly rough, eyes sharp.

Saberwolf could tell he wanted to discuss something important. She wondered what it was. Then her spark pounded. She'd been trying to hide behind Jazz and the twins, who were hanging back a bit as Sentinel and the others talked. Now Perceptor's eyes were focused on her. There was a look of recognition in them. Saberwolf felt more nervous than ever.

_Here we go…_


	7. Chapter 7

**_Chapter seven is kinda long. I hope that isn't too bothersome, because as the story progresses my chapters will fluctuate in length. Some things I just don't feel work carried over into multiple chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoy. _**

**_(_****_BTW: longer chapters will take longer to post, as I have to put them on a document rather than a piece of paper. just wanted to clear that up.)_**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Perceptor's Warning (and Kup)**

Perceptor watched her like a hawk, eyes never blinking. Saberwolf, knowing she was caught, stared back. She didn't blink. Not that Perceptor would see if she did, but she felt that he would know she did, whether he saw it or not. Soon the other bots around Perceptor took notice of his stare. They looked at her. There was confusion and questioning in their eyes.

"Sentinel, who is that with your team?" Ultra Magnus asked.

Sentinel look back and gestured for them to come over with a quick movement of his head.

"This is Saberwolf, sir," Sentinel said.

The group eyed her wonderingly, save Perceptor. His look of angry recognition stayed constant. Saberwolf feared what would happen if she looked away from him, but she had no choice. Ultra Magnus had addressed her. She turned her attention to him. Perceptor finally stopped looking so critically at her. His gaze softened ever so slightly, but Saberwolf felt his eyes like lasers.

"How did you come to be with Sentinel and his team?" Ultra Magnus asked curiously.

"We sorta… ran into each other on Earth… sir," Saberwolf said, hoping she could avoid going into specifics about that.

"I see… And what are you here for? Do you have intel to share?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"No sir, I am a… recruit I guess."

"A recruit!" Alpha Trion said with a laugh, "Sentinel I thought you didn't 'do recruiting'!"

They way he said it made Saberwolf imagine he was quoting Sentinel.

"Actually, Jazz recruited her," Sentinel said.

"Really…" said Ultra Magnus.

"Yes sir, it was me," Jazz said.

There was a small silence. Ultra Magnus and Alpha Trion had looks of approval on their faces. Even Perceptor gave a nod.

_Jazz must be well respected…_

"Well then, I suppose we should get you down to the Recruiter," Ultra Magnus said.

Saberwolf bowed her head respectfully and stepped back. Ultra Magnus walked to his hover chair and grabbed something from it. Then he pressed a button on the arm and it zoomed away. He now held in his hand a huge war hammer. Saberwolf shivered as she imagined what a blow from it would feel like.

_The Magnus Hammer…_

She looked at it in awe. It was a symbol of power and respect. Whoever wielded it held the highest honor of Cybertron.

_Well, most of it…_

There were a few bots around Cybertron that scoffed at it. Most of those bots were allies of Decepticons.

Ultra Magnus led the group towards one of the buildings that lay at the edge of the landing platform. He used the Hammer as a cane. Saberwolf wondered who had banged him up so badly. Then she remembered a news broadcast she had caught about two stellar-cycles ago, back when Megatron was still on the loose. It had said a Decepticon double agent had been recently discovered as Longarm Prime, head of Autobot Intel. This hadn't shocked Saberwolf. It had amused her that the Autobots had not known for so long. Longarm had been head of Intel for many, many stellar-cycles. The news broadcast also reported Ultra Magnus being brutally attacked by the Decepticon Shockwave, reportedly one of Megatron's most valuable warriors. It left him in critical condition.

Saberwolf was impressed by how well he'd healed. Even being two stellar-cycles ago, wounds so severe would normally leave a bot permanently crippled. Even with Perceptor's excellent medical skill.

As if Saberwolf's thoughts were his cue, Perceptor slowed his pace to match hers. She was at the rear of the group, Perceptor towards the front. Her spark pounded as she anticipated what he would say. Would he tell the others about her? Would he not allow her to become an Autobot? And what did he recognize her from? The last question was the most critical. If he recognized her as the runaway child, she was safe. If it was what she was anticipating, she had a heap of trouble to look forward to.

"You are from Cybertron, yes?" he asked, his monotone voice hushed so the others would not hear.

"Yes, sir," Saberwolf said, trying not to let her concern show in her voice.

"But you left," Perceptor said.

"Yes, sir."

It had not been a question, but Saberwolf felt she should answer as if it were.

"How long have you been away?" Perceptor asked.

"I'm afraid I lost track, sir," Saberwolf said.

She would have left it at that, but Perceptor's silence told her he wanted to know more.

"I suppose it was at least fifty stellar-cycles, but I'm not sure exactly," Saberwolf said.

Perceptor looked at her.

"Sir," she added.

Perceptor smirked with amusement, looking forward again. Saberwolf narrowed her eyes.

_He's toying with me…_

It made her more nervous.

"Sir, can I… may I speak freely?" Saberwolf asked, slightly angry that she felt she had to ask.

Perceptor looked over at her again, then he looked forward and nodded.

"Sir… I know that you recognize me. I can see it in your eyes. I know you have something to say to me, and I would appreciate if you would say what you want to say," Saberwolf said, "I do not enjoy being toyed with, sir."

She felt the atmosphere shift. Perceptor was tense now that his intentions were out in the open.

The group had entered the building and was now walking down a long hallway, past several empty conference rooms. Perceptor's glace rested on one of them, then he walked up to Ultra Magnus.

"Ultra Magnus, sir. If I may, I would like to have a word in private with the new recruit," Perceptor whispered to him so no others would hear; Saberwolf, of course, could.

Ultra Magnus hesitated, and Saberwolf guessed he was giving Perceptor a questioning look, but nodded.

"Sentinel, if you and your team would come with me and Alpha Trion, we'd like to make sure your ship is in order," Ultra Magnus said.

"Umm… Okay… Uh, yes sir, right away," Sentinel said, surprise and confusion in his voice and on his face.

Jazz and the twins shared his confusion. Even Alpha Trion had a questioning look, but he shrugged it away at Perceptor's nod. The group followed Ultra Magnus away, leaving Saberwolf alone with Perceptor in the hall. Perceptor walked into the empty conference room. Saberwolf, despite the many red flags popping up in her processor warning her to run away as fast as she could, followed. Perceptor was sitting at the head of the long table in the center, leaning back in his chair. His elbows rested on the arms of the chair. He was tapping his fingers against each other, starting with his pinky and moving to his thumb. His fingertips touched lightly, then bounced away from each other. Saberwolf watched for a moment. Then, quite reluctantly, she met his gaze. He looked as if he was seeing through her.

_His name _is_ Perceptor…_

Saberwolf hoped the rumors she'd heard were false. She hoped Perceptor couldn't see into her processor to see everything she'd seen. She'd been told by multiple bots around the galaxy that he was capable of doing so. The way he looked at her, Saberwolf felt there might be some truth to it. Then he spoke:

"Your parents were Autobot Intelligence Agent Chromia and a spacebridge tech named Heavyload. A short time after you were forged they were both sent on a mission to spy on Megatron. Your father was only involved because, as your mother found out, Megatron had been trying to get his hands on a spacebridge tech to help him figure out a way to get a handle on our great advantage in the war. The mission was classified as above Top Secret because we did not want to strike fear into any bot. Most of Cybertron was under the impression the war was over and Megatron defeated. Your parents had gotten enough intel to bring down the Decepticons permanently when they were discovered and murdered.

"This left you at home with no one to watch over you. You were taken away from your home and placed in the care of the bots that ran Gear Head Place. You grew to adolescence and decided to leave Cybertron in search of your parents, unable to accept they were dead. [Perceptor gave a sneering look after he said that] Some stellar-cycles passed before you were seen on Cybertron again. And when you were seen, you were committing a very terrible crime against the Autobots."

Perceptor paused in his tale and looked at Saberwolf, judging her reaction. Saberwolf's spark pounded. This is what she had feared most. She made sure not to let it show. She said nothing. She didn't even move to sit down. She couldn't move. Perceptor's gaze had her locked in the spot she was in.

"How is old Kup? I haven't seen him since you dragged him away from his family! Is he enjoying his time with the Decepticons?" Perceptor asked, standing up, fury in his eyes, "Do you know? Or did you just leave with your payment, never to think of him again! Did you know what you took him away from? And now you want to become an Autobot! You are a fool to think I would ever allow it!"

Saberwolf held her head level, fighting the urge to lower it in shame. But she couldn't meet his gaze. She felt inside the pocket on her hip. She found the old necklace Kup had given her. She pulled it out and looked at it. It was handmade; it had a little wheel charm and three beads that each had symbols on them. The wheel was not quite a perfect circle, and it was easy to tell it was made by a youngbot. The beads looked better and the symbols spelled "Kup". Saberwolf wrapped her hand around it. Guilt flooded over her. A memory flashed into her head:

:):):)

_Saberwolf stood at the back entrance to a housing unit. The city was still busy, and she kept quiet. But each sound of a horn or a passing bot in its vehicle mode made her jump. She tried to get a handle on her fear and nervousness, but that seemed impossible. She checked to make sure the small ship she'd arrived in was well hidden. With that worry off her shoulders, she felt a little better about the situation._

At least I won't get caught…

_She walked up to the door and, noticing it was locked, grabbed a crate that was sitting off to the side. She stood on it so she could reach the alarm box. She pulled the high heel from her foot. She pressed a button and it transformed into a dagger. She used it remove the screws from the cover of the box. She removed the cover and placed it carefully on another crate that was there._

_ There was a keypad that could be used to shut off the alarm. Saberwolf realized that this was the reason she was given Shockwave's frequency and told to call him when she reached a certain checkpoint. This was the checkpoint. Saberwolf called._

_ "Saberwolf to Shockwave," she said nervously._

_ "Shockwave here," his English accented voice sounded bored and irritated, as if she'd interrupted something he was doing._

_ "I've… I've reached the checkpoint," Saberwolf said._

I think…

_ "The code is 570236. Shockwave out."_

_The line went dead. Saberwolf was shocked at his abruptness. But she put in out of her mind so she could focus. She entered the code. The red light by the door turned green, signaling the alarm was off. _

_ Saberwolf replaced the cover and the screws, put her dagger back in place, then went to the door. It was still locked, but now there was no alarm that would go off when she picked it. She did so, and the door slid open. It made little noise, but to Saberwolf it was the loudest thing she'd ever heard. Her spark pounded and she took a minute to collect herself. Then she entered the house._

_ It was a nice little place, but Saberwolf didn't take the time to look at many of the details. She focused on the map the Decepticons had given her. She followed it to the hall that had the sleeping quarters. She passed a door that was pink. It made her stop, the pink standing out in the gray walls of the house. She backtracked to stand in front of it, though a voice in her head told her to keep going. She stepped up to the door and it opened. She jumped backwards and ran into the wall behind her with a thud. She flinched and panicked. She dashed into the room with the pink door and looked around for a place to hide. She dashed behind a stasis pod and crouched down. She listened for any signs of bots awake. After a few cycles of silence, she concluded that the noise was probably quieter than she thought. She told herself it was like to door opening. It was louder to her because she was nervous. She slipped from her hiding place and noticed there were two stasis pods. One was pink, one purple. She noticed some toys on the ground and realized she was in the room of two young fembots. She squeezed her eyes shut and walked out. She knew she would never be able to complete her task if she stayed there. She would succumb to guilt if she had to see their faces. She already felt bad enough. She leaned against the wall in the hall and tried to gather her wits. _

It's for your parents… He's gonna kill them if you don't do it… He said he wouldn't kill the target… Just ask him some questions… then He'll free him…

_She knew deep down it wasn't true. She knew He would kill the poor bot she was sent to retrieve. But she refused to fully accept it._

_ She stood straight and reminded herself again about her parents. She was saving her parents' lives. With that in her mind, she was able to continue. She continued down the hall and into the room that was marked as the target's sleeping quarters on her map. She looked around and again saw two stasis pods. She looked into the first one. There was a pretty fembot in it. She looked perfectly calm and happy. Her face was so peaceful… _

_Saberwolf stepped away, crouching to the ground and putting her hands on her head. _

_"What am I doing…" she groaned to herself, "You can't… You can't do this… You can't tear this family apart…"_

_She shook with shame and guilt._

_ "But you have to… Your parents…" she told herself._

_With them in mind, she stood and walked to the other stasis pod, body still shaking. She was about to open it, but she realized there was no bot in it. She jumped backwards in shock and felt something touch the back of her head. _

A gun…

_She dropped her map and raised her hands up by her head. She was caught._

_ "Turn around…" a deep, rough voice said._

_She did as she was told and found herself face to face with the barrel of a laser pistol. Her spark was pounding and she shook with fear. _

_ "On your knees," said the bot holding the gun._

_She dropped. If bots could cry, she would be. Her body shook with guilt and fear. She looked up at the bot holding her life in his hands. _

_He was an older looking bot with a long face. There was a long crack down one side of his jaw. He had a square helmet with two little pieces that stuck up slightly on either side, just above his temples. He was mostly blue-gray, with white and grey detailing. He had a broad chest and big arms and legs. His waist was trim, but big as well. He was overall a big bot. But it was easy to tell he was an older bot._

_The last thing Saberwolf noticed was that he had blue eyes, slightly sunken in. They held in them an air of experience and knowledge. It was easy to tell this was the bot she was supposed to be after. With the big Autobot symbol on his chest, he fit his description perfectly._

An extremely experienced Autobot…

_ Saberwolf felt fear. She lowered her head in shame. She knew from the file that this was a well respected bot. For good reason too. He was a formidable warrior that had brought in several Decepticons, many of which barely alive. _

_ "What are you doing in my house, bot?" he shouted in a whisper, spitting the word 'bot'. _

_Saberwolf looked up and tried to find her voice._

_ "I-I-I was ss-s-ssent to k-k-k-kid—"_

_ "Stop stuttering! Speak clearly bot!"_

_Saberwolf simply shook. She couldn't speak with a clear voice at the moment, so she didn't try. She was afraid of what would happen. _

_ "Stop your shaking and answer me!" his voice was hushed, but still held an intimidating timbre to it._

_ "I'm… Sorry…" Saberwolf said slowly, mustering up her courage with thoughts of her parents._

_ She darted forward, their faces in her mind, striking the arm that held the gun, grabbing it as it fell out of his hand. She removed and pocketed the ammo quickly, throwing the gun away when she was done. In the same stroke she elbowed his chest, then lifted her fist to his jaw with a soft crunch. She spun under his arm pulling it with her behind his back. She grabbed the other arm and slapped stasis cuffs on his wrists, all while catching him as he doubled over and fell, so he made just a small thump when he hit the ground. _

_ "I'm so sorry…" she whispered, flipping him over on his back and placing a mouth guard on him._

_The big bot simply glared at her with a mixture of surprise, pain, and bitter hatred. Saberwolf dragged him to his feet and silently moved him out of his room. She squeezed her optics shut as they passed the pink door. She felt the bot tremble as they passed, and a small, sad moan was all the escaped from underneath the mouth guard. He tried to tug back, but he was still weak from the blows Saberwolf had dealt. They left the house through the back door. _

_ The ramp to her ship was still down. She forced the bot up it and into the ship. As she did so, she took one last scan around the area. She noticed a dark figure standing on a distant rooftop. She paused, and looked at it for a moment. The figure started coming into focus and Saberwolf saw that it was a red bot and he was staring at them. Saberwolf panicked and rushed into the ship. She pushed her captive aside and ran to the small Bridge. She closed the ramp and set the coordinates for the Base and put the ship on autopilot. _

_ The ship took off quickly. Saberwolf hoped the red bot hadn't seen much of what was going on, and that he would forget her face quickly. She was on edge for a while after they left Cybertron's atmosphere. It wasn't until the ship had passed through the spacebridge to the sector the Base was in that she relaxed. Then she remembered her captive. _

_ She found him sitting against the wall where she'd pushed him. He obviously didn't want to put any effort into getting up. She pulled him to his feet and ushered him to the Brig. She looked at the cells. They were dark and dirty. She felt a shiver as she imagined a bot in one of them. She couldn't bring herself to put this bot in there. Instead she found a big chair on a far wall and strapped him into that. She broke the strange attachments off of the back of it, assuming they were different torture devices. She hesitantly removed the mouth guard. She took several steps back and lowered to her knees, folding her hands in her lap and gazing at them. She couldn't look at the bot. but she felt his gaze like daggers. She could feel the hatred flowing all around him. She slowly looked up at him. She jumped back at his glare, landing on her rear with one hand raised defensively. _

_ She'd never seen so much hatred in her life. It filled her with fear. She shook miserably, wishing she had never agreed to this. But it was too late to turn back now._

_ "You miserable bot! How dare you treat me like this! Pushing me aside, strapping me to a torture chair! After tearing me away from my family! You, You…"_

_His hands shook with rage. He glared at her sharply. Saberwolf could do nothing but sit there looking weak and pitiful. The bot looked her up and down, then something seemed to click in his head, because his optics widened with shock._

_ "You… You're just a kid… You can't be much older than my oldest girl…" he said with surprise, "What are you doing here? Why are you of all bots doing this?"_

_Saberwolf slowly stopped shaking and found her voice, now that the bot's optics were less harsh. _

_ "I-I was h-hired, I g-guess…" she said, looking down in shame. _

_ "You guess? Where you forced to do it or something?"_

_ "No."_

_ "Blackmail?"_

_Saberwolf wondered if the ship she was in was bugged. She decided to tell him anyway. She was bringing them the target, so why should they care if she told him why she was doing it._

_ "Sort of…" she said, her_

_ "Sort of? Well was it or wasn't it?" the bot said impatiently._

_ "He said He'd kill them…" Saberwolf looked up at the bot, "My parents." _

_The bot was stunned into silence. Saberwolf brought herself back up to a kneeling position and lowered her head to look at her hands folded in her lap._

_ "I'm, I'm sorry…" the bot said._

_ "Me too," Saberwolf said, "For stealing you away from your family."_

_She felt the bot's anger again._

_ "You shouldn't have done it," the bot said, "It's selfish."_

_ "I know."_

_ "You are no better than a Decepticon," the bot growled._

_Saberwolf looked up at him in horror._

_ "Please take that back!"_

_ "No."_

_Saberwolf looked at him miserably._

_ "If your daughter was in the same situation, wouldn't you want the bot she was after to forgive her?" she asked, lowering her head._

_ "Don't talk about my family! You don't know anything about me and my family! I bet you don't even know who I am!"_

_ "Yes sir, I do." Saberwolf looked up at him again. "You are one of the highest ranking bots in the Autobot Intelligence. You have two little girls and a partner. You are two weeks away from retiring happily."_

_Saberwolf was choking the words out now. The bot was shaking with fury._

_ "Then why? Why do you do this?" the bot asked, jaw set._

_ "I told you already Kup sir," Saberwolf said, feeling a sudden rush of strength as she spoke, "To save my parents' lives."_

:):):)

Saberwolf blinked away the memory. She looked up at Perceptor. She tossed the necklace to him to inspect. He looked at it then looked at her with a mix of fury and confusion.

"You, stole this from him?" he said with disgust.

"No sir, he gave it to me," Saberwolf said.

Perceptor opened his mouth to speak, but Saberwolf cut him off.

"Sir, before you continue know this: I suffered greatly for what I did. And I wish I had turned back as soon as I saw you on that rooftop, if not sooner. But I didn't. And there's no changing that. The only thing I can do is move forward. You can arrest me if you want to, but it won't change a thing. Just further ruin another bot's life," Saberwolf said, "Kup made me promise to change. I want to keep that promise. I'd appreciate your help."

Perceptor looked gave her an icy look.

"I understand you have no reason to trust me. But I need to fulfill this promise. Please let me do so," Saberwolf said.

Perceptor narrowed his optics. He got up and walked over to the door it opened and he gestured for her to exit. As she walked by him he handed the necklace to her and stared at her intensely. Saberwolf had a feeling he could see through her visor, despite the fact that others couldn't.

"Fine. But if I find the slightest slip, if I find one little thing suspicious, you'll be out of the Autobots and in the Stockade faster then you can blink. Is that clear?" Perceptor said.

"Crystal, sir," Saberwolf said.

They left the room and Perceptor led her to where the others were. Saberwolf walked over to Sentinel and Jazz while Perceptor talked with Ultra Magnus and Alpha Trion. The twins were messing around with something on the ship. Saberwolf could hear them moving around.

"What was that all about?" Sentinel asked.

"He recognized me from before I left Cybertron. He was curious about what I had been up to," Saberwolf lied.

"Oh. Okay," Sentinel immediately looked less interested.

Jazz seemed to be picking up that she wasn't telling the whole truth. Saberwolf didn't elaborate. The other bots came over, a small red bot Saberwolf didn't recognize with them. She'd heard his footsteps enter and was curious about him.

"Well Saberwolf, Cliffjumper here will show you over to the recruiting center. We need to go about out business with Sentinel and his team," Ultra Magnus said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, and I hope to see you go far with us."

Saberwolf nodded respectfully, shaking his hand. She shook Alpha Trion's and Perceptor's hands as well. Perceptor gave her another meaningful stare, and she could feel his suspicious eyes on her even after she had left the room after Cliffjumper.

As they travelled to the recruiting center, Saberwolf pocketed the Kup's necklace and tried to forget the past.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part 2- Autobot**

**Chapter 8: Graduation**

Saberwolf leaned her chin on her left hand watching as a picture was burned into the desk she was in. Her right index finger was the bright blue of an energy blade and she used it to carve a wolf paw print into the metal. Her criminal investigation class was severely boring her. She'd doodled several Autobot symbols and pictures of wolves, all made permanent by the energy. Saberwolf finished the paw print and wiggled her fingers, rolling the energy around her fingers. One by one, they each lit up. She let her entire hand go blue and she touched it lightly to the desk. The shape of her hand was forever burned into the surface. Saberwolf smirked.

_Leaving my mark on the school…_

As she absentmindedly messed around with the energy in her hand, she reflected on the past few stellar-cycles.

Boot Camp had been a cinch. The things they went over were things she already knew. The physical tests were a cakewalk; the history of the Autobots was painfully simple. Being boosted to the Academy proved disappointing. The classes were not much more difficult, but at least they required some thinking. Saberwolf had been quickly moved to advanced classes. She had been told multiple times she should skip up a class or two, but Saberwolf didn't want to draw too much attention. She liked attention, but only sometimes. So she'd gone through the four years, rather painfully, and now they were coming to a close. Graduation was coming up very quickly and Saberwolf was glad. She'd finally be able to go out and do something productive. Use the skills she had. Her classmates were all anxious about which teams they'd end up on, and who would be given a new team to command. Saberwolf had been offered a leadership role, but turned it down. She had no interest in commanding a fresh new team. She wanted to work around bots with experience. Real experience. Life or death situation experience. A team like that was what she wanted to be around. A team that had been in actual combat with Decepticons. A team like Optimus Prime's...

So she sat in her desk, doodling and daydreaming about the team that had interested her from the beginning. She played with the energy in her arm, turning her hand, fingers, forearm into energy blades, then back to normal over and over again.

"Saberwolf! Since you seem to find this whole subject less important than your energy blade power, why don't you tell us what you think about the verdict?" the professor said sternly.

_Because that makes sense…_

"They sent an innocent bot to his death, and the real perpetrator is still free," Saberwolf said, not bothering to stop what she was doing.

Laughter erupted around the classroom.

"Glad to see you were paying attention. How is it you are passing my class again?" the professor said, smirking.

"Because it's easy," Saberwolf said, finally looking the professor straight in the optics, "And I don't need to pay much attention to figure it out. And I _am _right."

"Alright, I'll humor you. What evidence have you to support this theory?"

"The video. The storekeeper fired a security turret that killed the victim."

"Really?" the professor said with sarcastic intrigue.

There were giggles and snickers all around; Saberwolf felt all the optics in the classroom on her.

"He hit a black button on his register and the victim fell dead shortly after."

"If you were watching, the perpetrator had a pistol pointed at the victim's face. And the victim did the same. They were at a stalemate, agreed to lay down their weapons, and as the victim was putting his gun down, the perp shot."

"Watch more closely professor. The 'perp' shot at the storekeeper after he saw him move."

The professor's look of amusement started to turn to authentic intrigue.

"And how do you know this?"

"His arm moved ever so slightly, so he would clear the victim and hit the storekeeper. That's why the window shattered."

"The window shattered cuz the bullet went through the victim completely. It was shown in the autopsy. He was at point-blank range," a student piped up.

"Yes, but the bullet that went through was not from the pistol. It was from the turret. The window was broken by your perp's pistol," Saberwolf said, rolling her optics.

"Your story could be true, only there is a stunning lack of a turret in the store," the professor pointed out.

"Look closely at the video at 20:48:53. Inside the mouth of the Jungle Planet beast's mouth, the one mounted on the wall opposite the counter, there is a very small flash and a faint click can be heard just before the 'perp' fired his pistol."

There was a thoughtful murmur around the class. The professor turned on the video again and freeze-framed the spot Saberwolf mentioned. The murmur died to a stunned silence as everyone realized that Saberwolf was right. The flash was there and it was easy to identify a narrow gun barrel. They watched the video again and the class saw how everything pieced together.

"So both bullets went through the window!"

"That's why the storekeeper was so quiet!"

"How did the guy know what the storekeeper was doing?"

"Well, when he walked into the store he was looking at the storekeeper."

"Then why did the victim get in his way?"

"What was this whole thing about? I thought it was a robbery!"

The students all started talking over one another, the chorus of voices getting louder each minute. Saberwolf tried to speak several times but no one heard her. She got up and stood on her chair. She whistled sharply. The class fell silent and looked at her, some covering their audio receptors and wincing at the high pitch.

"The guy was after the storekeeper. The victim was the storekeeper's friend, and probably knew what the guy wanted. If you watch their faces when the guy walked in, you can see recognition there. They knew he was coming," Saberwolf said, "I have no idea why, but that's irrelevant to the case."

"How do you know he was after the storekeeper?" the professor asked.

"The part that shows the trial. They ask him what he has to say for himself and he mumbles. They ask him to speak up and he said 'Nothing.' But what he'd mumbled was 'He was the wrong target.'"

"How do you know that?"

"I have very good hearing. You can confirm it if you turn it up."

The professor did so, and it was heard. There was another stunned silence.

"So… what now?" a student asked.

"I must show this evidence to the Counsel. They must know that the real perpetrator is still out there," the professor answered.

"What about the bot that was sentenced to death?"

"Well, he didn't commit a crime that was punishable by death. Just a few years in the Stockade… But what's done is done… sometimes, things like this happen in life. We try to avoid them, but it's not always possible," the professor said, "Saberwolf, it's too bad you weren't part of this investigation when it was going on."

"'If only, if only, the woodpecker cried.'" Saberwolf said.

She received some strange looks.

"It's from a story from Earth," she explained.

The professor gave a dismissive nod.

"I should report this immediately. Class dismissed."

* * *

Saberwolf shifted her feet nervously as she waited outside Perceptor's office.

_What is this about? I haven't done anything wrong… I think. What did he find? What did I do?_

Her mind raced. She been walking on eggshells since their talk so many stellar-cycles ago. And now here she was, with no clue as to why, just mega-cycles before she was supposed to report to the Assembly Hall at the Academy for the graduation ceremony.

Finally, Perceptor walked out and told her to come in. She saw the Counsel members that had greeted her and Sentinel's team when she'd arrived. They were seated around a small table. There were two free chairs. Perceptor took the one on Ultra Magnus's left and gestured for Saberwolf to take the other that was placed on the opposite side from Ultra Magnus, who was at the head. Saberwolf say hesitantly.

Ultra Magnus laughed.

"You're not in trouble Saberwolf," he said.

Saberwolf instantly relaxed. She trusted Ultra Magnus not to lie to her. He laughed again.

"Why would you think you are in trouble? You haven't done anything bad have you?" Perceptor said suspiciously.

"I promise you sir, I have not," Saberwolf said sincerely.

_And even if I did, I wouldn't be stupid enough to tell you._

Alpha Trion chuckled.

"You're so serious about it! Perceptor stop picking on the girl. She's never given us any reason to think she's a troublemaker," he said.

Perceptor simply leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. Alpha rolled his eyes and shook his head. Saberwolf remained silent. Ultra Magnus was the one to get things on track again.

"Anyway," he said, "Saberwolf you're surely wondering why you're here, so let's get to it."

The other two nodded.

"We had issues figuring out where to place you. You see, after placing the rest of the graduation class, our teams have all reached the maximum number their leaders are comfortable commanding. Since you have no desire to lead your own team, despite your aptitude, we had a dilemma. And you have to be placed in a team that will suit you well," Ultra Magnus said, "We finally came to the decision to put you on our Elite Guard force. Sentinel usually doesn't like fresh recruits, but when we asked him, he was more than willing to have you on the team. Now this is a great honor, and responsibility, so we wanted to inform you before—"

"No!" Saberwolf said impulsively, interrupting Ultra Magnus.

They looked at her in surprise.

"I apologize," Saberwolf said, lowering her head, "Please excuse my rude behavior."

Ultra Magnus chuckled at that.

"You're so formal," Ultra Magnus said with an amused tone, "You're excused. And I find your reaction very amusing. Care to explain?"

"I don't want to be a part of the Elite Guard," Saberwolf said quietly, feeling rude and embarrassed, not looking any of them in the optics.

"Why is that? Don't be afraid to speak your mind. This conversation is completely confidential," Alpha said.

Saberwolf hesitated, then decided she might as well tell them.

_What harm can come of it?_

"To be blunt, I think Sentinel Prime is an arrogant, thick skulled, naïve asshole and I foresee a lot of issues taking orders from him. I think he's an okay bot when I don't have to deal with him for too many mega-cycles at a time. Hell, more than a few cycles can be annoying."

This brought laughter from the three of them. Saberwolf was shocked that she'd gotten some chuckles out of Perceptor.

"She's sure got him down to a tee," Alpha said, elbowing Ultra Magnus, who nodded.

The three laughed for a little bit more before they composed themselves. Alpha let out a few extra chuckles now and then.

"Okay… if you feel so strongly about it," Ultra Magnus said.

"Now what?" Perceptor whispered Ultra Magnus, unaware Saberwolf could hear him plain as day.

Ultra Magnus looked thoughtful. Saberwolf saw her chance and decided to take it.

"Sir, what about Optimus Prime? Has he reached the limit that he's comfortable with?"

Saberwolf was sure they hadn't thought of him. Even after everything they did, Optimus's team had stayed relatively under the radar, and Saberwolf assumed they liked it that way. Watching the three bot's reactions, she knew she was right.

"Optimus… I haven't talked with him in a while. He's way out there on Earth," Alpha said.

"I don't know why we didn't think of it before," Perceptor said.

"I'll get in contact with Optimus and his team and discuss this with him," Ultra Magnus said, "Saberwolf, you're dismissed. We'll get in touch with you with more information on this subject."

Saberwolf thanked the three of them. She shook their hands in turn. Perceptor had a look in his optics that Saberwolf took as thoughtfulness, though it was just a guess; the look was impossible to read.

As she walked out the door, Ultra Magnus said one last thing to her.

"And good job on that assault case in your Criminal Justice class. Your instructor was very impressed."

Saberwolf nodded and left. She felt a full, happy feeling in her chest. She stopped a moment as she walked away. The feeling was strange to her. She puzzled over it.

_Hope…_

A little voice in the back of her head said this.

_Hope?_

She thought about this for a moment. She realized she did feel hopeful. It wasn't something she felt often, but there it was. She smiled, made a small "hmph" sound, and continued walking.

* * *

Saberwolf woke herself after the end of the Valedictorian's speech was over. She stood with her classmates and turned to salute to the professors. Then to the Council. They all saluted back. Then there was chaos. The salute was the dismissal, and all of the students were intermingling, some with their new leaders (most attended to congratulate and meet their newest members), some with friends. Saberwolf slithered through the crowd to get to the doors. There was no more reason to stay, and she had no friends to talk to. Not that everyone hated her, she just wasn't exactly friends with anyone. She was about to go out the doors when she was stopped by a familiar voice. It was Jazz.

"You're not leaving are you?" he asked; he wore a friendly smile.

"Yes."

Saberwolf had not been aware that anyone had been put on Elite Guard, and even so, wondered why Jazz was there.

"Why? You don't want to stick around for your friends to congratulate you?" Jazz asked.

"What friends?"

She had not meant anything by this, but Jazz's smile faded and he looked slightly hurt. It wasn't easy to tell, the visor making it difficult, but Saberwolf was sure that's what the look on his face was.

"I see… well then, goodbye," he started walking away.

Saberwolf realized he must be talking about himself and the other members of the Elite Guard. And she'd basically just told him she didn't consider them friends. She had to fix this now.

"Jazz."

He turned and looked at her.

"I was kidding!" she said, giving her most convincing smile.

His somber look faded and he looked relieved. He laughed and Saberwolf followed him over to where the others were.

"You have a great poker face. I really thought you were serious," he said as they weaved through the crowd.

Saberwolf laughed a little.

"Sorry," she said.

She did feel bad about it, but she hadn't been telling a joke. She hadn't been thinking when she said it. Jazz was her friend; that she'd figured out just now. Sentinel was annoying, but she did sort of consider him a friend as well. She was mostly indifferent about the twins.

When she and Jazz got over to where the others were, she was surprised to see not only the Elite Guard, but Optimus Prime as well. Her optics opened wide, and she was glad she had a visor.

_What is he doing here?_

She'd known she was going to be on his team. Ultra Magnus had sent her the message. But she hadn't expected him to travel all the way from Earth to greet her at her graduation. But there he was.

_The bot who stopped Megatron…_

She found that she envied him, just a little. The task that she'd hoped she'd be able to do, taken by this bot in front of her. She'd spent a lot of time preparing for it. But she was also very grateful that it was him who did it, because she didn't know how long it would be before she was ready for it, and how many lives could have been lost in that time. She would have to find a way to thank him, without it being awkward.

All of these thoughts went through her head as she was saying hello to the twins and Sentinel and receiving their congratulations.

"Hello," she said to Optimus shaking his hand, then remembered to add, "sir."

"Hello," he said in reply, "and there's no need to call me sir."

Saberwolf nodded. She stepped back and stood next to the twins. She like this bot. He held himself confidently. His voice was friendly. He had a friendly smile on his face, and no visor. His optics held a confidence to match his stance. They also had a sense of wisdom beyond his years (which Saberwolf guessed was around hers) in them. But they were just the slightest bit clouded with some sort of concern. Saberwolf wondered what it could be.

"So you're my newest teammate. It's a pleasure to meet you, Saberwolf," Optimus said, "I'm sure you'll enjoy Earth. It's an interesting planet."

"Yes it is. I do really like Earth."

_More than here…_

The thought made her slightly sad, but she pushed the feeling away.

"You've been to Earth?" Optimus asked.

"Yes. I was actually recruited there," she glanced over at Sentinel and Jazz.

The twins frowned. Saberwolf smirked. Optimus gave them all a questioning look, but didn't ask about their exchange.

"So you're familiar with the planet then?" he asked.

"Yes. In fact, I spent a few stellar cycles learning everything I could about the planet. I was extremely interested in wolves," Saberwolf said, "And nature really. It's all so fascinating. The way it all is linked together. I could watch animals and plants all day long and—"

Saberwolf stopped when she saw Optimus's optics grow distant.

"What?" she asked, wondering if she said something wrong.

"Nothing," Optimus seemed to shake himself back to reality, "You just remind me of a bot I once knew. A friend."

"Oh," Saberwolf saw a small flash of pain in his optics, just for a moment.

She decided to change the subject.

"So what is it your team does on Earth?"

It was something she'd been wondering for a while.

"We keep watch over things… But the full details of our mission there will be told to you on our way back," Optimus said vaguely, looking up at some bots that were standing within earshot.

Saberwolf nodded, but she was still curious. There was an awkward silence.

"So I heard you found somethin' interesting in your Criminal Justice class," Jazz said, breaking the silence.

Saberwolf was grateful for the break, but she wished it wasn't about her.

"Yeah. Just some stuff that I noticed. Attention to detail, that's all it was," she said.

"Attention to detail? I'll say! You resolved and entire case by watching one surveillance video," Sentinel said.

"I have good sight and hearing," Saberwolf said simply.

"Those are good traits to have," Optimus said, "Very useful."

"So is flying!" Jetfire piped up.

The conversation turned towards discussing Jetfire's and Jetstorm's best tricks they can do in the air. Saberwolf mouthed thanks to Optimus. She was glad for the subject change.

The small group talked for a little while more, then Saberwolf said she was going to turn in for the night. Sentinel said he was going to go out for a drive. Optimus and Jazz said they'd go with him and the twins were heading out the door to go test out their tricks. Saberwolf turned to leave, but Optimus called her back. Sentinel and Jazz were already leaving.

"We're heading back to Earth tomorrow. I don't like to leave the team for too long, and I'm sure you're itching to leave. I'll send you a message with the time. Have a goodnight," Optimus said, then he turned to leave.

Saberwolf wondered how he was able to tell how she was so ready to go. She turned and finally got out the door she had been heading for earlier.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: New Team**

Saberwolf stared at Optimus in shock. The AllSpark in pieces? How is that possible? It was the strongest power she, and most other bots as well, knew of. How could it end up in pieces? Well, Optimus had already explained that, but she couldn't believe it. Actually, she could, but it was just a shock.

"You okay?" Optimus looked at her as if she might fall unconscious at any moment.

Saberwolf nodded, forcing herself to come out of the shock.

"I see why you would want to keep this a secret from the general public," Saberwolf said, walking over to the window to watch the stars zoom by, "Cybertron would fall into chaos."

"Exactly."

Optimus came over to stand by her. His presence was calming. She wondered how he could have ever had a bad rap. He seemed like a good bot. She definitely wouldn't mind following his lead. She could tell he didn't impose his authority on bots. He'd rather have friends than mindless followers. A good trait in her mind.

"It's a big responsibility..." Saberwolf could feel it expanding in front of her.

She couldn't imagine how huge it must seem to Optimus.

"Shared between all of us, it seems less so," Optimus said, "The whole team works together. And now, that includes you."

He gave her a friendly smile, then walked away. Saberwolf turned and watched him as he left the Bridge.

It was a small bridge, but it was more inviting than the Elite Guard's. Theirs was mostly white, making it seem too clean and inhabitable. This one was orange, and it had a welcoming feel to it. Not everything was spotless, and it looked like a normal ship. It had a calming effect, just as Optimus had. Just as Earth had.

_This whole place has the feel of Earth…_

Saberwolf smiled, something that was becoming increasingly less rare for her.

_I think I might like this team…_

She transformed and curled up in a corner by the window, content with watching the stars swiftly go by.

The ship landed on a small island in the middle of Lake Erie. Saberwolf could hardly contain herself from dashing outside to smell the clean air, feel the grass under her feet, hear the birds singing. This was the island she had been living on so many years ago; her first time on Earth. She had always loved the place. It was the closest thing she had to a home.

But instead of running and looking a fool, she walked patiently behind Optimus as they went down the ramp. They were greeted by a group of friendly faces. Saberwolf recognized all of them from new reports from Cybertron. The big green one with smiling optics was Bulkhead. The small yellow bot that seemed to be unable to stand still was Bumblebee. The white and red, aged bot with a grumpy look was Ratchet. Then Arcee, the slender pink fembot. Saberwolf wasn't sure if she was supposed to be part of this team, but she fit in well with the group. And standing in front of this group were two humans, one a short, plump, middle aged male, one a tall (for a human), slender, teenage female. The both looked friendly, and Saberwolf recognized the male from her research about Earth. Professor Isaac Sumdac. And Saberwolf assumed the girl was his daughter. But she seemed, different somehow. Not like other humans. Saberwolf wondered what it was that gave her that impression.

They all, save grumpy looking Ratchet, had friendly, welcoming looks on their faces.

_And no visors. I like this group._

"Saberwolf, this is the rest of the team. Team, this is Saberwolf, our newest member," Optimus said.

"Wonderful, a fresh bot without any experience," Ratchet said.

"Ratchet!" Arcee said with a reprimanding tone.

Saberwolf narrowed her optics.

"You'll have to excuse Ratchet," said the little human teenager, "He's just a grumpy old bot."

The others laughed. Ratchet just shook his head, but there was a laugh in his optics. Saberwolf bit back a chuckle. She wasn't able to control a small smile though.

"I'm pleased to meet you all," Saberwolf said.

"We don't have to introduce ourselves do we?" Bumblebee asked, "Cuz I'm pretty sure everyone on Cybertron knows us."

Saberwolf couldn't help but laugh a little. She was glad she wasn't the only one.

"You're so humble Bumblebee!" the human girl said sarcastically.

"What? What did I say?" Bumblebee looked confused.

"Maybe we should call him 'Humblebee!'" Bulkhead said.

Now everyone was laughing. Saberwolf liked watching this group interact. She could tell they were like a family. A family she was looking forward to being a part of.

"Actually, he's right. I do know most of you," Saberwolf said, hearing Bumblebee whisper "See?" to Bulkhead, "But I don't believe I've met you before."

Saberwolf was talking to the human girl.

"I'm sorry," the girl said.

"Okay… Sorry about what?" Saberwolf asked.

There was laughter all around. They were laughing at her.

"I knew that would get 'er!" Ratchet said, "Welcome to the team newbie!"

Saberwolf was confused.

"What?"

"My name is sorry. S-A-R-I. Sari," the girl said.

"Oh…" Saberwolf understood now, and felt slightly stupid.

"It's okay," Sari said, "It got Bumblebee too!"

Saberwolf nodded, still feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Alright everyone, enough fun. We still need to introduce her some more teammates. And show her the base," Optimus said.

Saberwolf again found herself grateful for his quick subject changes.

"Who else do I need to meet?" Saberwolf asked, unaware there were other bots.

Ratchet was walking over to the ship, and patting it's side.

"You haven't officially met Omega Supreme," he said.

As if his words were a cue, the ship started to move. No, to _transform._ Saberwolf's optics opened wide and, yet again, she thanked her visor for hiding her reaction as the biggest bot she'd ever seen sprouted into the air.

_Omega Supreme! How could I have forgotten!_

She had heard about him also, but for some reason, she didn't remember until just now.

"Hello. I am Omega Supreme," his voice was very deep, and loud.

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Saberwolf," Saberwolf tried to keep the shock at the size of him from slipping into her voice.

"I am pleased to meet you also," Omega said, "But I have to leave you now. I feel like taking a flight."

And with that, he transformed again and took off.

"He isn't good with new bots," Arcee said.

Saberwolf nodded and watched the big bot disappear, still somewhat shocked.

_I had no idea I had been riding through space inside another bot!_

"So, off to the base then?" Sari asked.

"Sounds like a plan," Optimus said.

The others transformed. Sari climbed into Bumblebee and her father into Optimus. Saberwolf could barely keep from shuddering and what it must feel like to have smaller being riding inside of oneself. She was grateful for an alternate form that didn't allow that.

"Saberwolf, aren't gonna transform into vehicle mode?" Bumblebee asked.

Saberwolf smirked.

"Not exactly."

Her transformation earned a lot of interest.

"How'd you get a wolf mode?" Bulkhead asked.

"Lots of searching," Saberwolf said.

"I bet," Optimus commented, "Well, let's roll—or run… Can you keep up with us?"

"Is that a challenge?" Saberwolf asked.

Optimus chuckled. The others seemed surprised she could talk in this mode.

"No, talk to Bumblebee about that. I was just wondering. Lets roll out!" Optimus said, "Or… whatever."

Saberwolf laughed and launched into a run. Bumblebee was the first to catch up to her, his acceleration being higher than the others. Saberwolf resisted the urge to race him, there would be time for that later, and allowed the others to catch up. She ran alongside Arcee. They went out of the trees, onto the beach, and into the lake. Saberwolf felt some drag and lowered her head a little so it was in line with her body. She crouched lower and used her tail as a rudder as she ran across the lakebed. She was glad she'd been to Earth before, and spent a good amount of time practicing running underwater. It was nice to not struggle with it, and look stupid doing so, with all these bots around. She actually got ahead of some of them, not having to worry about wheels getting stuck in the soft sand. It was easier for her to lift her feet then it was for them to make their tires roll. She slowed her pace to match theirs. They still traveled at a good speed. When they resurfaced at on of Detroit's docks, the pace picked up. Saberwolf was happy to run with these bots. They went onto an onramp to the highway and Saberwolf ran with glee. It had been a while since she'd had a reason to run at 60 (miles per hour). It probably looked odd to see a big robot wolf traveling behind a bunch of cars, but the humans that watched saw Optimus ad the others and seemed to brush it off. Saberwolf supposed they were used to these bots doing strange things. She already knew the whole town knew them. She wondered how long it would take for them to get to know her. She hoped they didn't. She didn't want to deal with a bunch of human fans watching her every move if she went about in public.

They soon took an exit and a few streets and ended up at an abandoned Sumdac assembly plant.

_Clever. I bet Sari gave this to them…_

Some of the windows were broken, but for the most part the place looked nice. Saberwolf noticed a tree that seemed to grow into the building and wondered what room it went into. She watched some birds flit around in the branches and admired their shiny feathers. One of the birds disappeared into the building and the other one chirped at it, then followed. They soon flew out together and landed on a high branch. They started dancing back and forth on the branch. Saberwolf wondered if it was a courting dance, or a fight. Either way, it was very interesting.

The others calling her made her realize she'd been walking towards the tree. And not just the tree itself, but the spot where it disappeared into the building. When she stopped, she realized some invisible force was pulling her there. She had a strong and unexplainable desire to succumb to the pull. But she broke away and walked over to where the others were, changing to robot mode on the way as they had done.

"C'mon! I'll give you a tour!" Sari said cheerfully, walking up to a little black box on the wall next to the big garage style door and punching in a code to open it. Saberwolf followed her, and the others followed them.

A big room with a conveyer belt and assembly machines greeted them. Part of it was set up like a small office, with a big computer and several monitors, some showing security camera footage, some on standby. There was also a section with a couch and a flat screen T.V., some kind of video game system, and a little coffee table. Saberwolf took note of how inviting the whole place was.

"This is the living room slash office," Sari said, "And over there is the hallway that leads to the other rooms."

She led Saberwolf through the door.

"That door on the far left is a medical room, the one to the right of that a conference room and this staircase on our right leads up to the bedrooms," Sari said, heading to the stairs.

Again Saberwolf followed, glad that there was more than enough clearance, though it looked like some of the concrete had been cut out so there was. There were several private quarters, none of which Sari actually let Saberwolf go into, except for hers. Saberwolf was glad for the fact that privacy was respected around here. Sari led Saberwolf past a room on the right without saying who it belonged to or what it was for. But Saberwolf felt the pull as she walked by it and stopped.

_It's that one…_

"Sari whose room is this?" Saberwolf asked.

Sari turned and her face fell, eyes going distant, as she saw which door Saberwolf had stopped by. She blinked and shook her head, as if dismissing a memory.

"We don't use that room anymore," Sari said.

She turned and continued for a small distance, stopping at a door on the same wall as the one Saberwolf was at.

"This is your room!" Sari said, her face bright again.

Saberwolf didn't bother to continue questioning the mysterious room. Again she broke herself away from the pull.

The room was small and well lit by a window on the far wall. Sari flicked on the lights and the natural sunlight was suddenly marred by overly bright factory lights. Saberwolf adjusted her visor to save her optics. Bright lights didn't sit well with her. The room was empty except for a small mattress with a big stain, which smelled ever so slightly of coffee, on the floor and a small faded red dresser against the right wall.

"We were going to move the mattress, and maybe build a makeshift stasis pod like the others have. To make it more livable. We figured you'd like the dresser to store things," Sari said, "It's not much yet, but—"

"It's perfect."

And it was. The mattress would be nice to lay her head on when in wolf mode, which is how she slept. The faded paint on the dresser and the coffee stain on the mattress made the room feel lived in, homey even.

"You don't want to change anything?" Sari asked.

"I might add a few things, but I would like to keep the things here already," Saberwolf said.

"Okay, whatever floats your boat!" Sari said.

She left Saberwolf to 'settle in'. Saberwolf turned off the bright, unnatural light and let the sunshine filter in. She went to the dresser and pulled out a storage cube. She pulled a few shuriken from it, her more decorative ones, and placed them in a nice arrangement on the top. She emptied some more into the drawers, and a few other weapons and things. She kept most of it on her. Pulse grenades, regular grenades, smoke bombs, knives of different kinds, a pistol. She changed her mind and put the pistol back into a slot above the pouch on her right hip. She came across a little box as she organized her things, and recognized it immediately. It was a nifty little weapon that the Decepticons' weapons dealer had created. She was the only one to get one, for reasons unknown to her. It could transform into any weapon or tools you wanted, provided you buy the upgrade pack from Swindle. It had come preloaded with a rocket launcher, a few rifles, a force field, and some other things she couldn't remember. It was a very valuable object. She decided to keep it on her at all times.

After this she walked over to the window and opened it. She let the clean air rush in and wash out the stale air. She set up the mattress the corner so that it was below the window and in perfect view of the door. She examined the room contently, realizing its potential to be a very welcoming living space. She noticed how blank and smooth the wall to the left of the door was. It was the only wall coated completely with an even layer of paint primer. She wondered why, but waved it off. It was a blank canvas. She had the urge to put something there. She, like Bulkhead, had taken an interest in art, namely painting. She wasn't as enthusiastic as Bulkhead, but it was something she enjoyed.

_I might have to borrow some pain from him…_

The idea of putting something like a mural there was appealing.

Saberwolf was considering what image to put there when she became aware of light footsteps on the roof. They were from small feet and a light body. She closed her eyes and her senses of touch and hearing developed the approximate shape of the bot, just as they had with Sentinel a few years ago when she first traveled with them. This bot was definitely a femme. Small frame, maybe a little taller than herself.

The bot was walking quickly across the roof. She was above the room next to Saberwolf's and headed towards the edge of the building. Suddenly she disappeared, then reappeared a few moments later on the same level as Saberwolf.

_The hole… _

The hole where the tree grew into the building. The unknown femme bot must have climbed down into the room. She was now crossing the room and heading toward the hall. Saberwolf did the same, but got out into the hallway quicker. She transformed and crouched down low behind a crate that was left lying out. She'd noticed it before with Sari, thinking it was a waste of space, but know she was grateful for it being carelessly left about. She watched the door and realized it was the one that had drawn her; the one Sari seemed to avoid like the Plague. There was no force pulling her towards it now. As the femme emerged, Saberwolf felt nothing but anticipation. She watched the intruder carefully, trying to figure out whether she was a threat or not.

It was a purple femme, with four strange appendages sticking out of her back. She also had what appeared to be a cephalothorax.

_What the fuck…?_

Saberwolf's optics narrowed in disbelief. This couldn't possibly be a bot. Saberwolf tested the air to see if she picked up any familiar bot-like scent. Which she did, but it was mixed with organic tissue and venom. Saberwolf was baffled. The bot smelled similar to a spider.

_What the hell is that thing? Some human science experiment gone wrong?_

The femme bot, of sorts, turned and looked down the hall in Saberwolf's direction. Saberwolf was sure she could not bee seen, the hall was dim and the floor was black, so her paint blended in for the most part. As the bot turned back, a symbol on her neck reflected the dim light.

_Decepticon!_

Saberwolf instinctively snarled. The femme turned sharply on her heel and looked around critically. Saberwolf noticed four blood red eyes and an hourglass shape on her helm the same color. The bot's optics narrowed, glowing with angry confusion.

"Who's there? Stop hiding in the dark. Show yourself!" the voice was harsh and had a deeper tone to it.

Saberwolf didn't doubt her ability to scare someone with her voice alone. It was mysterious and alluring, yet dark and harsh and menacing. Saberwolf found her already not trusting this bot. Saberwolf wondered if that was something all Decepticons learned to do with their vocal patterns. Put a dark twist to it. But that mattered little. What mattered was that this was an enemy and an intruder. Saberwolf shot a beam from her mouth and incinerated the rotting crate. She made herself look as big as possible, giving her most menacing snarl. She felt primitiveness in what she was doing, but it had become second nature after spending so much time examining wildlife. Even after the years on Cybertron, her processor still fell into the wolf-like niche when she was in this mode. Especially when in a fight.

"What are you? Did Optimus get a new guard dog or something?" the laugh that the femme put in her voice couldn't hide the slight fear in her optics.

Saberwolf narrowed her optics, then transformed.

"Oh! A bot! Isn't that a surprise!" the purple femme said, the fear dispelled.

"I could say the same to you. What exactly are you? One of the Decepticon scientists failed experiments that got loose?" Saberwolf said harshly.

Fury shone in the mutated femme's eyes.

"You think you're funny, huh wolf girl? What the hell are you?" the femme spat.

"I'm your worst nightmare, Decepticreep!"

Saberwolf drew her sword. She split it in two, holding each handle so the blades faced backwards, and crouched into her battle stance. One foot under her, ready to spring at a moments notice, body low, one foot out in front a bit for balance, her right arm drawn in front of her defensively and the other facing backward, ready to swing forward into attack.

The femme raised her arms in front of her, stepping back on one foot, in a typical stance for hand-to-hand combat. Only her hands weren't in fists. Instead they were relaxed, as was the rest of her. She looked loose and fluid. Even the way she shifted her weight around the balls of her feet was relaxed and smooth. Saberwolf waited, her face settling into a calm mask. She was still. She stared directly into the femme's optics, knowing they would give away her moves before she made them.

The femme grew tired of the stare down. She narrowed her optics and looked around the hall. Her optics stopped on the wall to Saberwolf's left for a fraction of a second. Saberwolf expected it when she jumped and sprang off of the wall, and she pushed off of the foot that was directly under her, straightening up, and spun on the foot in front. Spinning made it possible to doge the kick that the femme was aiming at her, and be facing the bot again as she fell and got back up. The femme lunged at Saberwolf's left. Saberwolf waited until she was very close, then sidestepped to her right, dodging a fist, and using her hand to guide the femme to the ground. She let the femme's own momentum be the force of the blow. The femme rolled over onto her kicked her feet up, pushing off the ground with her arms to try and kick Saberwolf. Saberwolf did a back bend and avoided it, then flipped up onto her hand and into her own kick, aimed at the femme's back. The femme turned just in time to be kicked in the chest. Saberwolf slammed her weight down onto the femme as she hit the ground, then sprung away. She landed in a kneeling position, one knee up by her chest and one just barely above the floor. She had one hand on the ground to steady herself, and one behind her again. She still held both swords in her hands. As the femme got up, Saberwolf dashed forward and raised her left arm to slash the femme's left shoulder. The femme cried out in pain and gripped her shoulder. She landed behind the femme and spun around to face her again. Saberwolf spun the handles of her blades and advanced towards the femme. The femme turned and looked at her with shock and fear. She backed up as Saberwolf came after her. She ran into a wall and had nowhere else to go. Saberwolf kicked her to the ground and stepped on her chest, pinning her. She held her sword in front of her face.

"Any last words, Deceptibitch?" Saberwolf asked menacingly.

"Saberwolf!" came the sound of Sari's and Bumblebee's voices together.

Saberwolf looked up at them, not moving from her position over the Decepticon femme.

"What are you doing?" Sari asked, looking at her like she was crazy.

Saberwolf looked back with confusion.

"She's a Decepticon," Saberwolf said.

"No…" Sari said, shaking her head.

"She's with us," Bumblebee said.


	10. Chapter 10

**_So you might find the end of chapter nine confusing. I'm going to be posting a different story that will explain how BlackArachnia ended up with the Autobots. It isn't magic. I apologize for the lack of explanation. I promise, it's coming. Just be patient._**

**_Disclaimer_****_: I do not own Transformers. The only thing I claim is the character Saberwolf._**

* * *

**Chapter 10: Ghosts**

Saberwolf sat on an old keg of oil, arms crossed over her chest, and glared at the Decepticon femme. She had found out that she was called BlackArachnia. And she was no longer a Decepticon, but an Autobot. She wasn't on official records because it would never be allowed. The team had decided to give her a chance.

BlackArachnia was sitting on a big table in the living room while ratchet patched up the cut on her arm. She flinched and fidgeted as Ratchet worked.

"Watch it will ya!" she said.

"Don't get snippy with me girlie! If you'd stop squirming it wouldn't hurt so much! Now pipe down and let me work in peace!" Ratchet scolded.

"Sorry," BlackArachnia lowered her head.

"Yeah, yeah," Ratchet mumbled.

BlackArachnia seemed to become aware of Saberwolf's glare. She looked up a little, narrowed her eyes, then looked away at something else. The others were standing around awkwardly, save Optimus, looking from Saberwolf to BlackArachnia to Optimus and back to Saberwolf again, over and over. Optimus leaned against a wall and watched Saberwolf with a careful expression. He would occasionally look over at BlackArachnia, usually when she flinched.

Saberwolf switched her glare to Optimus. She didn't shift her head though. She didn't want any of the bots to have any notion of whom or what she was looking at. She kept her head in a position so it seemed she was staring at the floor.

_What kind of Prime welcomes a Decepticon to his team? I thought this team was supposed to be… I don't even know what I thought they would be. But I never imagined they'd be Decepticon lovers… It's disgusting…_

Saberwolf was NOT happy. She hated Decepticons. They were either stupid, or cowardly. Or evil. They stood for destruction and tyranny. And their leader… Saberwolf's circuits nearly caught fire with hatred at the thought of him. Any bot that followed him was never to be trusted. Saberwolf shook her head slightly at Optimus.

_He's not as smart or wise as I thought if he thinks he can trust this bot…_

"I just have one question," Saberwolf said, voice as monotone as she could make it.

All the bots looked at her. Ratchet only for a moment; he returned to his work after giving her a careful look. The others waited.

"What happened to your sticker?" Saberwolf asked.

BlackArachnia reached into a pouch on her hip with her good arm and pulled out a holonote and a small charred object.

"I went to fetch this note from Omega Supreme for Ratchet and Swoop stole it," BlackArachnia tossed the charred object on the floor where everyone could see it, "After he and the other Dinobots were finished with it, that was all that was left."

Saberwolf saw a small little corner of the sticker that was still recognizable. She glared at it.

_Omega Supreme? Dinobots? Great, more stuff that I wasn't briefed about. Not like I was briefed about anything…_

"On the bright side," BlackArachnia said to Optimus, "I talked to Grimlock and he said he forgives us. And I think he's over the whole thing finally. He even asked if I knew any other femme bots!"

The whole group, excluding Saberwolf, chuckled at this.

Finally, Saberwolf couldn't take it anymore. She had to leave the room. She couldn't make sense of the conversation anymore, nor did she want to. She couldn't stand being in the same room as a Decepticon unless they were in stasis cuffs. Especially when the Autobots around were acting real chummy with one. No bot stopped her as she left for her room. She felt her plating grow hot with anger. She flexed her hands and clamped them into fists over and over. She tried to take steady breaths to calm herself. None of this was helping. She instinctively despised every Decepticon, except for one. But he died a long time ago.

That thought instantly brought sad memories. Those memories brought more hatred. Saberwolf's body shook. Saberwolf stopped in the hallway just outside her room. She tried with all she had to calm down. But it was impossible.

Then out of nowhere, she felt a strong pull from her right. She looked up and saw the door to the room where the tree grew in. The pull had a cooling effect on her. She felt the anger begin to fade. She stepped closer to the door. The anger faded more. She walked up to the door and it opened automatically. Saberwolf stepped into the room and felt calmer. Calm enough to take in everything in the room with wonder.

The big oak had grown and flourished in the space where a wall used to be. There was a cabinet against one wall. It was brown with two tall doors. It was ornate in a simple way. Saberwolf noted how well it fit with the rest of the décor. It wasn't much décor, just a few tatami mats, but its simplicity was what was best about it. There was a thick layer of dust over everything, hinting that no one had been in here for a long time. The only place where there wasn't any dust was where BlackArachnia had walked, and her small footprints reminded Saberwolf that she was mad. Saberwolf took some more steady breaths to cool down. She noticed a forest-like scent was wreathing around the room. Each time she took a breath she felt calm. Something about this room had a calm and still presence. She figured it was because of the tree. Nature always had a calming effect on her.

Saberwolf walked to the tree and placed a hand on the trunk. She sighed and tried, with more success, to push her anger away. As she did this, she became aware of a small figure moving around the room. She turned around and saw a little she cat peering out from behind the cabinet. Saberwolf hadn't noticed her before, partly because of being angry, mostly because of the room being so wonderfully distracting. She moved closer to the cat.

"Hello," Saberwolf said calmly.

The cat mewed at her. Saberwolf held out a hand.

"Hi there little kitty! My name's Saberwolf," Saberwolf said.

The cat hissed at Saberwolf's hand.

"It's okay, I won't hurt you. I'm a friend," Saberwolf said.

_Is that what BlackArachnia said to these Autobots?_

And in a snap Saberwolf was mad again. The cat must have picked up on this, because she hissed and spat and backed up more into the space between the cabinet and the wall, hiding all but her eyes, which reflected the light from around the room. Saberwolf saw the fear in the little cat's eyes and backed up with a groan. She sat down and leaned against the thick tree trunk.

"I'm sorry cat… I didn't mean to scare you… It's just… I'm so angry!" Saberwolf slammed her head against the tree, a few wood chips flying from the trunk.

_Oops! Great, now you're screwing up the tree!_

Saberwolf sighed and closed her optics.

"Sorry tree…"

She opened her optics and tried to calm down. Again, it was easy.

_Now just stay calm…_

BlackArachnia's presence, combined with the fact that the Autobots were okay with her, had unnerved her. Saberwolf sat still and tried to put herself back together. She watched the light filter through the tree, casting a soft glow to everything in the room. Saberwolf raised an arm and wondered at the fact that the sun didn't glint sharply off the gold parts of her metal plating, as it usually did. Rather, it came off in soft beams. It made her seem like part of the nature in the room rather than some unnatural being. An alien. Here she seemed to belong.

_Belonging… what a confusing concept…_

Her mind flew again to BlackArachnia. But now instead of being angry, she was just confused. Saberwolf looked up at where the cat was hiding. The eyes were less scared. More curious. Saberwolf sighed.

"What a simple life you lead cat…" Saberwolf said, "You don't have to worry about who your enemies and allies are, because you know. You always know. Because it's in your nature. Hardwired into your brain…"

Saberwolf looked at the door.

"You don't have to worry about, let's say a hawk, coming up to you and saying 'I don't want to be a hawk anymore. I'm on your side now! I want to be a cat!' No. You never have to worry about that. Never," Saberwolf looked at the cat again, "And you don't have to worry about being guilty for anything. Because you can just explain away your actions to it being part of nature. If you get in a fight with another cat and injure them really bad or kill them, it's not seen as murder. It's seen as part of nature. Survival of the fittest. And you don't have any such thing as grudges or anything like that. Because you're a cat!"

Saberwolf stared at the floor.

"I envy you, you know that? What a blessing it must be not to have higher thinking. I mean, not have it be necessary. You don't have to think about anything. You can rely on your primitive instincts. You're not expected to be anything but primitive and instinctual by society. Hell, you don't have to give a damn about society! You can just say 'Fuck you society!' I wish I could do that…" Saberwolf said.

She looked at the cat again. It was staring at her with a slightly confused expression. Saberwolf laughed. She groaned again.

"And me? I'm talking to a cat! I'm friggin' talking to a cat! Just wonderful! Just fucking great! I'm angry, confused, and now I'm talking to a cat as if it can understand me! As if it even cares! As if it cares that the bots it shares its home with are crazy Decepticon lovers!" Saberwolf put her head in her hands, resting her elbows on her knees, "I don't have any room to talk… Not after the things I've done… I should know that not all Decepticons are bad. Some are okay… Maybe BlackArachnia was forced into it. I… I have no room to judge a bot without knowing them…"

Saberwolf squeezed her optics shut. She felt extremely confused. She knew it was wrong to judge a bot without knowing them. She knew that some Decepticons had the potential to be good. But every fiber in her being felt unconditional hatred towards them.

"You seem to be very conflicted. And I thought my life had been difficult," came a new, deeper voice.

Saberwolf looked up sharply. There was no one there. No new footprints, no sign that anyone had entered. Saberwolf jumped up and looked in the tree. No one there. No new scents, no new bodies. Saberwolf closed her optics, knowing that sometimes sight could be restricting. She felt nothing new, heard nothing new, smelled nothing new. Saberwolf opened her optics and looked around frantically. Her gaze fell on the little she cat. She cocked her head at her.

"That's not possible!" Saberwolf shook her head at her own stupidity.

The new voice chuckled.

"No. I am not a cat. Though I wouldn't be surprised if Mittens could talk. She is a very smart little animal." The voice was coming from above her.

Saberwolf looked up into the tree.

_But no one is there! Am I going crazy?_

"Show yourself!" Saberwolf demanded, drawing her sword, "I don't know what kind of trick you're using to hide yourself, but you better knock it off or—"

"Or what? You just admitted you can't find me. What do you expect to do to a target you cannot hit?" the voice had moved, it was coming from her right now.

_Damn…_

Saberwolf thought about how stupid she must look. She put her sword away, knowing this voice, whomever it belonged to, was right.

"What do you want? Why have you been listening to me?" Saberwolf asked angrily.

"Well, seeing as this is my room, I think I have every right to listen to whoever enters. And I wanted to say hello to Mittens. But you were here, so I decided to listen to what you were saying." The voice was moving, as if it was walking, to in front of her.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" Saberwolf said.

"If you insist."

There was a flash of blue to her left. Saberwolf turned and drew her sword again.

The blur started to materialize into the rough shape of a bot. Then it became more defined. It was a tall, slim male bot. He had large lower legs and slim arms. His feet were wide. He had thin hands and a long face. There were two little wing shaped things above his optics that pointed upwards. His helm was round. He had big plates sticking up from his shoulders. He had wheels in his legs and hit chest was shaped like a motorcycle windshield. Saberwolf got the impression that he transformed into a motorcycle of some sort. Obviously and earth one. His waist was little and he had little pouches on his thighs. He was all blue, head to foot. At first he was all one shade, but as he materialized he got darker and lighter shades that defined his paintjob. He started out transparent, then translucent, then he was completely opaque. Saberwolf saw a blue Autobot symbol on his chest plate.

_Where have I seen this bot before? He looks so familiar... No… It can't be… Unless he's…_

"My name is Prowl. And you are…?"

Saberwolf was grateful for her visor, because her optics flew open wide. It was everything she could do to keep from gasping.

_So I was right… Wonderful… But… How?_

"But you… you were dead! You can't be… this can't be possible!" Saberwolf said, mind still in shock.

She realized she was getting loud and reminded herself that the others were still downstairs.

"If you open your mind to the seemingly impossible, many possibilities will arise," Prowl said, "And I am dead. Just because I'm talking to you doesn't mean I'm alive."

"Then you… you're a… ghost?" Saberwolf asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"But that's imposs—"

Prowl raised his brow at her, making her stop.

"Okay… Maybe it's possible. Obviously it's possible. So… So what now?" Saberwolf asked.

"Well, you seem to be having troubles," Prowl said, "Do you… want to talk about them?"

Saberwolf narrowed her optics with suspicion.

"What makes you think I'd talk about my problems with a ghost that I don't really know?" she asked.

"Well for one, you were talking to a cat about them, and two, you're in my room. I would like to know why," Prowl said matter-of-factly.

_Damn…_

He had her. Saberwolf smirked slightly, then frowned. She was impressed that he had managed to get one over her like that. Not many bots could do such a thing. But she didn't want him knowing that.

"Touché." Saberwolf said.

She sat down on the center of one of the mats. Prowl sat cross-legged on one in front of her. There was silence for a while, in which the cat that Prowl called Mittens came out from behind the cabinet and let Prowl pet her. She even approached Saberwolf. She ran when Saberwolf tried to pet her, but only over to where Prowl was.

"You don't agree with BlackArachnia being here do you?" Prowl asked.

"No. I hate it in fact," Saberwolf said, "But I have no room to judge a Decepticon trying to turn things around. After all, I'm trying to do the same thing."

Saberwolf went rigid. She hadn't meant to say that. But Prowl was so easy to talk to. It had just popped out.

Prowl gave her and interested look.

"You are?"

Saberwolf knew she didn't want to tell him. But she also didn't want to keep anything from him. Something about him made her feel he wouldn't be judgmental. She felt she could trust him. And he calmed her.

_Maybe it wouldn't be too bad to tell him…_

Saberwolf considered it for a moment. She looked down at the mat she was sitting on. She picked at the straws.

"I… I have some ghosts from my past. People I wronged. Bad things that I did," Saberwolf looked up at Prowl, "Things I regret. I joined the Autobots partially to try to do right by those memories. So maybe they'll stop haunting me."

_There. You told him about it without going into detail._

Prowl seemed to sense she didn't want to talk about it. He didn't push the subject.

"I understand that," was all he said.

Saberwolf didn't question the statement.

"So… How are you able to come here? Am I the only one who can see you?" Saberwolf asked.

"No. Anyone who walked in right now could. Luckily the team here avoids my room. Though it's open to the elements now," Prowl said, gazing around at the dust, looking slightly disapproving.

Saberwolf saw a big broom in the corner. Bot sized. She stood, then walked over and grabbed it. She started sweeping up the dust.

"You don't have to," Prowl said.

"No, it's fine. It helps. Makes me feel better," Saberwolf said.

It wasn't untrue. Cleaning had always made her feel better for some reason.

"Well thanks. I usually kept this place clean. Even though I'm a friend to nature, I never was a fan of dust," Prowl said.

"Friend to nature?" Saberwolf asked, interest erasing the last shreds of anger.

"I've always been fascinated with it," Prowl said, reaching for a duster that was on top of the cabinet.

Saberwolf watched in amazement as it stayed in his grasp instead of falling through his hand. He started dusting the top of the cabinet. He looked back at her with a questioning look. Saberwolf realized she had stopped sweeping and was staring. She blinked and went back to work.

"Uh… I have too. I like wolves in particular. So much so that I took form of a mechanical one," Saberwolf said, "And put it as part of my name."

"Ah yes, the one you never told me when I asked."

Saberwolf felt her faceplates grow warm with embarrassment. She marveled at the feeling. No one had made her feel embarrassed in a long time.

"Uhh… It's Saberwolf."

"That's interesting… You named yourself?" Prowl asked, either ignoring, or not noticing Saberwolf's sudden awkwardness.

Saberwolf guessed it wasn't the latter.

"Umm…Yeah. I can't remember what my parents called me. It's strange… I've searched my processor for a memory containing the name they gave me. But it seems to be wiped. I have no idea why they would, but I think it was—" Saberwolf stopped herself before she revealed more than she intended again.

Prowl gave her another questioning look, but turned back to dusting without asking about it.

"Anyway, I've gone by a lot of things, but I decided my permanent name when I came here. I combined my power and my favorite animal. It flowed well so I stuck with it," Saberwolf said.

"Power?" Prowl asked.

Saberwolf held up her arm and let energy flow into it to turn it into an energy blade. Prowl looked surprised. He came over for closer inspection.

"An energy blade… That is a very unique power, Saberwolf," Prowl said, "And a clever name."

Prowl gave her a slight smile, then went back to his dusting. Saberwolf continued with the sweeping, let her arm going back to normal.

"Thanks."

Saberwolf felt a strange giddiness when he complimented her. She got a warm feeling in her spark chamber. She tried to snap herself out of it.

_What is wrong with you?_

They continued the cleaning, sweeping all the dust off the edge of the broken part of the floor when they were done. They even shook out the mats before sitting back down.

Saberwolf looked at Prowl, questions flying into her mind as they sat in silence. She realized she was staring and switched her gaze to Mittens. For some reason, Saberwolf felt as though Prowl could see through her visor as good as Perceptor. Mittens had become accustomed to Saberwolf already, and was actually rubbing against her foot.

"She likes you," Prowl said.

"Big change from five cycles ago," Saberwolf said, stroking Mittens' back with her finger.

More silence.

"So are you going to ask me your questions or not?" Prowl asked.

"How did you—"

"Having a visor doesn't make you unreadable," Prowl said, "It just makes it more difficult."

"Okay… So if you are a ghost, then that means things should pass through you. Normally. But you were able to pick up the duster. How? And I thought that once you were in the Well of Sparks, you couldn't come back," Saberwolf said.

"You can return to places you once knew," Prowl said, "As long as you can use Processor-over-Matter well enough to do so."

"So do you see everything there? Like how older bots tell youngbots that the deceased are watching over them."

"Yes. We can see whatever we want," Prowl said.

"What have you seen?"

"Most bots in the Well of Sparks agree that we shouldn't share our knowledge with the living. It wouldn't be… fair. I am one of those bots that agrees to that," Prowl said.

"Oh… Okay then, how about my other question. About stuff going through you?" Saberwolf asked.

"It's all about Processor-over-Matter. If I want something to go through me it will. If not, it wont," Prowl said, "For example, hold up your hand please."

Saberwolf hesitated, then decided Prowl would have no reason to trick or hurt her, so she did what he asked. He moved closer to Saberwolf and raised his hand up to hers. Saberwolf felt a strange kind of happy nervousness at his proximity.

_What is this? Why does he affect me like this?_

"If I want your hand to pas through me," Prowl put his hand trough hers, "It will."

The spot on her hand that Prowls hand covered were suddenly ice cold.

"If I don't want it to go through," Prowl said, moving his hand back, "It wont."

He pushed against Saberwolf's hand and Saberwolf felt it as if he were a solid, live bot. His hand was still very cold. Saberwolf shivered. Prowl looked up at her, then moved away. Saberwolf realized he had turned the air around her cold when he was close.

"Of course, there are some downsides to being a ghost. Like turning the air around you freezing cold," Prowl said.

"I don't think that's a downside. It's kinda cool actually," Saberwolf said.

Prowl chuckled.

"What?" Saberwolf realized after she asked, "Oh. No pun intended."

Saberwolf laughed with Prowl.

"I'm glad I came in here, even if I did kinda invade on your personal space," Saberwolf said.

"I'm actually glad for the company. I would visit my friends, but I think that would just make them sadder. I don't want them to grieve anymore for me. They are getting over it, slowly," Prowl said.

"That's why Sari avoids this place like it's radioactive," Saberwolf said.

"Yes."

Saberwolf looked up at the tree's braches. She saw an MP3 player hanging by the headphones on one of the branches.

"Is that hers?" Saberwolf asked.

"She left it here for me," Prowl said staring at it with a somewhat sad look; his eyes grew distant.

Saberwolf let him reminisce for a moment. He came back to reality with a sigh.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask what happened," Prowl said, "How I died I mean."

"Bots die. It happens… It's not really my business," Saberwolf said, "And I got tired of hearing all the death stories stellar-cycles ago."

_Fuck!_

Once again, Saberwolf let something slip out that she'd rather have kept a secret. Prowl just nodded. Saberwolf sighed.

"Besides, the story's all over Cybertron," Saberwolf said.

Prowl shook his head.

"Cybertronians never were ones to stay out of others' lives," Prowl said.

"Especially when someone dies," Saberwolf said.

"You speak from experience?" Prowl asked.

Saberwolf lowered her head.

"I had absolutely no privacy after my parents died," Saberwolf said.

"You had parents?"

"Yep. One of the few lucky bots to actually have parents," Saberwolf said bitterly, "And the Decepticons decided it would be fun to fuck it all up!"

Saberwolf's vision went red with rage. Her senses were overwhelmed. She pounded her fist on the floor. A terrified hiss broke through to her and she blinked. She noticed her hand was glowing with energy and smashed into the ground where Mittens had been sitting. Prowl was perched in a high branch of the tree, holding Mittens. He watched her with a careful look, mixed with sympathy. The thought of Mittens, an innocent animal, being crushed under her fist made Saberwolf shudder with guilt. She pulled her knees up to her chest and hid her face. Her anger turned to the familiar sadness from her youth. Sadness she thought she'd crushed. She trembled. If she were organic, tears would be flowing from her optics. She groaned.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered.

She heard Prowl get down from the tree and put Mittens behind the cabinet. He walked over to her and sat down. He put a cold hand on her shoulder.

"You hold in all of your emotions without facing them. This is what results," Prowl said.

_Mittens was lucky Prowl was here… _

"I can't… I just want to forget… But the memories are burned into my processor! I can't—" Saberwolf couldn't continue.

Prowl said nothing. He sat in silence, hand on Saberwolf's shoulder, until she pulled herself together again.

"I'm sorry…" Saberwolf said when she could.

"I'm not the one you should apologize to," Prowl said, removing his had from her shoulder plate.

Saberwolf felt a strange feeling in her spark when he did, like she wished he hadn't.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

Saberwolf tried to push away the feeling. She looked up and saw Mittens giving her an expectant look. Saberwolf couldn't help but chuckle.

"I'm sorry Mittens," Saberwolf said.

And she meant it. Mittens seemed to sense this. She meowed and nodded her head, then stretched and went back to her place behind the cabinet. Saberwolf heard the sound of her feet going in circles, then her body plop down. Soon her soft snores could be heard.

_Sleep well…_

Saberwolf sighed.

"I've had one hell of a day…"

Prowl smirked.

"I imagine," he said.

"I have to say, being in this room has been so helpful. It's so calming in here," Saberwolf said.

The sun was setting. Saberwolf didn't realize how long she'd been in here. She suspected the cleaning took longer than it seemed to take.

"I'm surprised the others haven't come looking for me," Saberwolf said.

"These bots know how to give a bot their personal space," Prowl explained.

"I see…" Saberwolf looked at Prowl, "Do you think they were right to accept BlackArachnia?"

"Yes. BlackArachnia and Optimus have a… difficult history. I won't go into detail, it's their story to tell. But they both have wronged one another, and are trying to mend their relationship. BlackArachnia is trying to turn her life around, just like you," Prowl said, shooting a look at Saberwolf, "She's proved herself more than enough times over the past four years she's been with this team. She can be trusted Saberwolf. It may be hard to accept, but she is on your side."

Saberwolf nodded.

"I—"

She was cut off by the sound of small footsteps heading up the stairs.

"Sari," Prowl said.

Saberwolf stood up in panic.

"She probably won't like finding you in here," Prowl said, standing as well.

"That's what I was thinking," Saberwolf said.

"Go in through your window."

Saberwolf nodded and walked over to the tree. She climbed a thick branch to get to the roof. She was about to climb up when Prowl called her. She stopped and looked down to see him standing by the tree trunk.

"Yeah?"

"Give BlackArachnia a chance. Maybe helping her turn her life around will help chase away those ghosts of yours," Prowl said.

Saberwolf considered that. She looked into Prowl's optics and felt her spark skip. She had to hold in a gasp at the feeling. She looked away.

_What is going on? Focus!_

Saberwolf gave her head a quick shake. She forced her mind back on track.

_BlackArachnia…_

Saberwolf sighed.

"I'll… try."

She swung up onto the roof and dashed for her window. She got in just in time to hear Sari knock on her door. She walked across the room to get it.

"Thanks Prowl," she said to softly.

She noted that her spark fluttered when she said his name.

_Get it together Saberwolf!_

Saberwolf shook her head to clear it. Then, for Sari's sake, she pretended she had never seen him and opened the door.

**P:**

Prowl listened for a moment. When he heard Sari and Saberwolf talking, he stopped listening and prepared to return to the Well of Sparks. As he said goodnight to Mittens, he reflected on his last moments with Saberwolf.

"I'll… try."

Saberwolf's last statement rung in his head as he traveled.

_I hope so…_

As he pondered Saberwolf's situation, a strange feeling came over him. He felt a faint, yet nagging desire to visit Saberwolf again. He couldn't figure out why.

_Strange…_

He pondered over the feeling for a moment. Then he arrived at the Well. The thoughts and feelings of the others joined his own. He was being happily welcomed back. But when the others picked up on his feeling, the bots' thoughts started to change.

_Be careful Prowl… She's a living bot, _said one of the bots.

_Careful of what?_ Prowl asked.

_Just be careful._

Prowl was confused. He was sure the others could feel it, but they were shielding their thoughts and wouldn't tell him any more. Prowl tucked away his own thoughts and went about his usual business. He wondered, behind the shield, what was with the other bots.


	11. Chapter 11

**_I hope i do Megatron justice. This is the first time I've tried to venture into his head._**

**_Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers, yadda, yadda, yadda..._**

* * *

**Chapter 11: Escape Plan**

Megatron hung from the chains in his cell passing the time as he usually did; imagining the many different ways he could kill the bots guarding his cell.

_Over four stellar-cycles… Four fucking stellar-cycles! How is it that so much time has passed, and not a single Decepticon has come to break me out of here! Oh right, because they are all useless piles of scrap metal! _

Megatron seethed with anger. His one useful bot was rotting in the cell next to him. He heard Shockwave sigh angrily and knew he was thinking the same thing.

_When, or rather IF, one of my followers gets me out of here I'm going to tear that pitiful Optimus Prime apart. But only after I've slowly and painfully killed every single one of his friends in front of him!_

Megatron felt a sadistic joy at the thought.

_Starting with their precious little humans!_

Megatron clenched his fists and imagined that fat Professor Sumdac squishing between his fingers.

The door of the high security unit he was in opened, breaking into Megatron's thoughts.

"Meal time slag heaps!" shouted an annoying and familiar voice.

_Sentinel Prime… I'll make him watch too. But I'll kill him before Optimus…_

The arrogant blue Elite Guard bot had made a habit of personally delivering Megatron his slim ration energon.

_The poorest quality of energon in the universe!_

Sentinel walked into Megatron's view. He hit a switch and the wall that Megatron was chained to moved so they could reach to give him his energon. Through a straw. Megatron glared at Sentinel, hatred flowing through his circuits.

"I brought you a special treat today, asshole!" Sentinel said with a superior grin.

He shoved the straw through the bars. Megatron glared and grabbed the straw. He yanked it our of Sentinel's grip.

_I will not have this wretched bot hand feed me!_

Megatron took a sip of the liquefied energon and immediately spit it out in disgust. Sentinel dodged out of the way of the drops and laughed mockingly.

"An even lower grade of energon!" Sentinel said, "Enjoy it, because it's all you're getting all day!"

"You imbecilic, insignificant, pusillanimous mech!" Megatron bellowed, causing Sentinel to flinch backwards, "If I weren't restrained by these chains I would rip you apart!"

"W-w-well that's doesn't look like a possibility does it? You're stuck there for the rest of y-your existence! And even if you did get out of those chains, I'd just force you back into them!" Sentinel tried but failed to cover up his fear.

"You are a coward! If I broke out you'd be running for the door faster than I would!" Megatron said.

Sentinel spat on Megatron's face. Megatron shook the oil from his face as the guards laughed.

"You are going to regret that Autobot," Megatron threatened.

"You aren't in any position to be making threats, Deceptiscum!" Sentinel said, the others' laughter giving him courage.

"Laugh while you can bots," Megatron said darkly.

Sentinel joined in the others' laughter, but his optics were clouded with fear. He turned to leave the high security unit.

"You and your pals drink up," he said.

He met Megatron's gaze for a moment, then left.

_Coward…_

Megatron forced himself to finish his terrible ration of energon. How the Autobots had managed to find worse stuff then before, he would never know. But he believed Sentinel when he said that was all they would get. As he was slid back to the other side of his cell, he heard Shockwave and Lugnut hacking and groaning and assumed they'd been fed the same terrible stuff. Megatron wondered if it was even energon they'd just been fed.

_The Autobots are almost as cruel as I am sometimes…_

Megatron would serve a prisoner nothing before he served them something like what he was just forced to drink. Mostly because he would never allow such a low grade substance into his base.

_But maybe I could make an exception to use it as a torture device…_

Megatron calmed his anger with the image of Sentinel and Optimus Prime hacking up the terrible stuff, only to have more forced down their throats. He laughed darkly.

"Quiet in there!" yelled one of the guards.

"Don't make me move you up on my agenda of bots I intend to kill when I get out of here," Megatron retorted.

That shut up the guard.

_I'm doing it anyway…_

Megatron smiled. Then he sighed with exhaustion. He felt like that terrible energon sapped his energy, rather than give him more. Which it very well could have done. He closed his optics and waited for stasis. It came quickly.

* * *

When Megatron woke he found himself face to face with the ugliest bot he'd ever seen. He almost gasped in surprise, which shocked him even more. He glared at the bot in front of him. He was green and purple and had a long chin. He was larger than the average bot. Between Shockwave and Lugnut. He had purple optics and a big chin. He had thin, purple, bug-like wings. Megatron noticed he had a big wasp tail with a large, sharp stinger. He had four arms, if you counted the little ones that stuck out of his sides, and a big wasp head for a chest.

_Another techno-organic? This must be BlackArachnia's handiwork…_

The bot raised a long finger to his chin.

"Shhh!" said the bot, his entire chin spreading open, in four directions, into a mouth.

Megatron was actually a little horrified at this. But he didn't make a noise. Instead he tried to figure out how the bot got into his cell without being detected. The guards were still outside the cell talking. Megatron realized they were the night guards.

_How long was I in stasis?_

The techno-organic walked across the cell silently. He reached through the bars until both of his hands were hovering around the backs of the guards' necks. A flash of electricity shot out and the two guards fell unconscious. The techno-organic caught them and leaned them gently against the bars. Megatron was impressed. There were four guards at night though. The techno-organic backed up and started glowing blue. A blue ball of transwarp energy swallowed his body. Then he was completely gone. Megatron barely had time to wonder what happened before the bot was back.

"Waspinator took care of all the guards. They will wake up in one mega-cycle," said the bot in a quiet, deep, slightly crazed voice.

"Am I to assume Waspinator is you?" Megatron asked.

"Yes. Waspinator have been waiting for Megatron to wake for several mega-cycles."

"I see… What do you want?" Megatron asked, not in the mood to chat.

"Waspinator need Megatron's help," Waspinator said, walking closer, "Waspinator have a problem with a friend of Megatron."

"I see. And since I am of little help to you here, I suspect you want to bargain. I help you and you'll get me out of here," Megatron said.

"Megatron is smart," Waspinator said, seeming to be talking to himself, "Yes. Waspinator have broken out of Stockade before. Waspinator am now more powerful! Waspinator can break out as many bots as Waspinator like!"

Waspinator let out a bit of crazed laughter.

"I see…"

The only bot Megatron knew of that had ever broken from the Stockade was a former Autobot called Wasp. He looked Waspinator over. He may have been Wasp, he may not have been. Megatron decided it couldn't hurt to ask.

"You… You used to be an Autobot didn't you? Called Wasp," Megatron said.

"I am no longer Wasp! I am Waspinator!" Waspinator shouted; he then shushed himself.

_His speech fluctuates from normal to… crazy…_

"And I assume you aren't an Autobot anymore," Megatron said smoothly.

"Autobots betrayed Waspinator! Waspinator will never be an Autobot again! Especially after what Spider Bot did to me!" Waspinator said.

_Then I was right. This is BlackArachnia's work…_

"Ahh… You fell victim to BlackArachnia's experiments. But how did she change you? And why did she make another techno-organic? Last time I checked, she hates the organic part of herself," Megatron asked.

"Spider Lady used Waspinator! She used transwarp energy to mutate me! She wanted to see if she could change me back," Waspinator said, voice coming back to normal for a moment.

"So she could change herself back," Megatron guessed.

"Yes! And if Waspinator died in the process, Spider Bot didn't care! Spider Bot called it the price of science! Then she tried to use Waspinator again! She ran away from puny Autobots using Waspinator's overloaded transwarp field! She thought Waspinator would go offline! But Waspinator didn't! And when Waspinator demanded Spider Bot fix Waspinator, Spider Bot refused! I threatened to kill her! She said she's not afraid of Waspinator! I left her to die in Africa, but Waspinator suspect she didn't die! Waspinator think she found a way to live! Waspinator need Megatron to make her fix Waspinator!" Waspinator said angrily.

Megatron considered this. It sounded just like BlackArachnia. Just like a Decepticon. He felt a bit of pride at what he'd managed to turn the former Autobot into. Megatron looked over Waspinator. He was bigger and stronger than what he used to be. According to Shockwave, Wasp had been a small bot with stingers, similar to that little Bumble-brat, with a lot of potential and it was a shame he had to be sent to the Stockade. He had now fulfilled that potential. Megatron, while he found his organic mutation somewhat disgusting, liked the power he had now.

_He could be very useful to me now… I could agree to help him, then when he breaks me out, I'll convince him he's better this way. I'll have another strong warrior and I won't have to deal with BlackArachnia's… issues…_

Megatron did want to check up on the former Autobot, however. While he wasn't planning on making her "fix" Waspinator, he planned to make sure she hadn't done anything stupid.

_Being on the same planet as Prime… Considering their history it may not be good…_

Megatron knew BlackArachnia wasn't easily swayed, but when it came to the bot she used to love she might break.

And then there was Prime and his sniveling band of sparklings. Megatron couldn't very well carry out the plans he'd been making for their demise when in chains.

"Alright Waspinator. I will help you with BlackArachnia, so long as you spring me and my two block mates out of this shithole," Megatron said.

"Before Megatron agrees, Waspinator just remembered one more thing he wants," Waspinator said.

_Wonderful…_

"And what would that be?" Megatron said, annoyed.

"Waspinator want to be a Decepticon. And Waspinator want to join Megatron in his assault he is probably planning against the Autobots on Earth. Waspinator have a bot Waspinator needs to crush!" Waspinator said.

_Oh._

"Hmm… Which bot do you have in mind?"

"The little yellow bot that got Waspinator stuck in this place!"

"Well, if that's it then I agree to your terms Waspinator," Megatron said, slightly amused at Waspinator's ability to hold a grudge, "I hope you have a plan."

"Waspinator have three options for Megatron to consider," Waspinator said, "Waspinator could just warp Megatron and his friends out right now. Since I scrambled the Stockades sensors with my electricity already, we could be very far away by the time the stupid Autobots realize the trick."

_That would be too easy. There's no fun in it…_

Megatron was silent.

"Or Waspinator could release Megatron and his friends, we could kill these four guards, then warp away. They would notice sooner, but it would be slightly more satisfactory," Waspinator said.

_Better, but still not very fun…_

Again, Megatron said nothing.

"Or Waspinator could release every bot in the Stockade, cause a large riot, destroy the entire stockade, then warp away!" Waspinator's optics glowed with impish glee at this idea.

"Now that's more like it," Megatron said.

"It will take a lot of planning. Visiting enough bots to ensure they're brave enough to start a riot, planning the date and time. It will take a while," Waspinator said.

"Time is something every bot in the Stockade has," Megatron said.

Waspinator nodded, optics growing distant and angry. The guards starting to wake up brought him back. Megatron couldn't believe it had been a mega-cycle already.

"They revive quicker then Waspinator thought," Waspinator said.

_So it hasn't been a full mega-cycle._

"Waspinator will be back tomorrow night," Waspinator said.

Then he warped away. Megatron sat impatiently as the guards called in a disturbance. The Stockade had a lockdown for a full mega-cycle before they gave the all clear. Sentinel and his team, who had been sent to check the high security block, were now leaving. Megatron smiled with amusement at the Autobots' stupidity. He started laughing darkly to himself as he imagined his plans coming into action. Sentinel and some white bot that was with him stopped and looked over at his cell.

"Looks like the Stockade's finally getting to him," said one of the night guards.

Sentinel nodded, but as his optics met Megatron's they were filled with deep fear, not triumph. Megatron reveled in it.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Special thanks to Autobot Fangirl for inspiring this chapter. Hope you enjoy!**_

_**Disclaimer: i do not own transformers.**_

* * *

**C****hapter 12: Rehabilitated**

It had been a little over two weeks now since Saberwolf had seen Prowl. She wanted very badly to see him again for reasons she couldn't figure out. She wandered by his room now and then, contemplating whether to enter or not. She always opted to keep going, afraid that if she did enter, she would find that it was all a figment of her imagination. That the conversation she'd had with him was just a result of an overactive, over-stimulated processor. The strange magnetic pull that had urged her to enter the first time was in an on-again-off-again state, which gave Saberwolf the impression that she was slowly losing her mind.

Her relationship with her new team was moving sluggishly to a better state. She was getting along well with Sari, Bulkhead, Ratchet, and Arcee. Bumblebee annoyed her and she was still mad at Optimus. And she barely even considered BlackArachnia part of the team. But after her talk with Sari, she had made two promises to at least try to accept her. She was doing a decent, by her standards, job at that. Over the past two weeks she had been able to not only be in the same room as the purple femme, but be within just a few feet of her. She couldn't stay that way for very long, but at least she wasn't trying to kill her. Though she still had urges to do so often.

On top of all of this, Saberwolf had been having nightmares nearly every night since she met BlackArachnia. Memories of her past mixed with their first encounter and resulted in a terrifying blend. She'd been avoiding sleep for the past two days fearing what the night held. She had no idea why she was being plagued so badly.

Saberwolf was currently curled up in wolf mode on the floor in front of the couch watching Bumblebee flip through channels. BlackArachnia was sitting on the back of the couch behind Sari, who was on her stomach on the cushions to Bumblebee's right. Optimus had pulled up a chair next to the couch so he was near BlackArachnia. Ratchet and Arcee were sitting together on a new loveseat that Sari had ordered, since they needed more sitting space, and Bulkhead had made himself his own chair out of the things that stuck up from his back (which Saberwolf found very amusing). Everyone had gathered around to find a movie to watch on TV. But by some horrible stroke of bad luck, Bumblebee had gotten hold of the remote. So now they were watching channels rush by.

"Would ya just pick one already?" Bulkhead said, looking annoyed.

_No kidding…_

Saberwolf's patience was already being pushed by the proximity of BlackArachnia. In fact, the only thing that was keeping her stationary was Sari's petting and scratching her absentmindedly. Being in her wolf mode seemed to have a strange affect on her processor, making her more primitive instincts more prominent. Even though she found it a little strange, the feeling of being petted was still very enjoyable and relaxing. But if Bumblebee didn't pick a channel soon Saberwolf would most likely leave for her room.

"I'm trying to find something that isn't boring!" Bumblebee protested.

"You've cycled through all the channels five times!" Ratchet said angrily.

Saberwolf almost got up and left when a channel caught her eye.

"Wait, wait! Go back!" Saberwolf said, jumping to her paws.

"What? Which one?" Bumblebee said with surprise.

"Channel five!"

"Uuuhhh…" Bumblebee's fingers were able to hit the tiny channel up button easily because it was on the outside edge of the pad, but the five was right in the middle and he kept hitting a bunch of other buttons instead of that one.

"Oh give it here!" Sari said, snatching the remote and switching the channel.

There was a news report on.

"…Masterson was released from custody early this morning for good behavior. He appears to be rehabilitated, and his terrible machine he called the Headmaster unit has been crushed, but only time will tell if the former villain is actually a functional member of society. Back to you Jack."

Saberwolf cocked her head at the picture that was up of this human called Masterson.

"Are you kidding me? They actually let that crazy asshole out?" Ratchet yelled.

"Who is he?" Saberwolf asked.

"Some angry idiot that tried to ruin my dad's company," Sari said, "His stupid Headmaster unit could remove the head of any robot and be used to control it."

"Yeah! And it's not fun to the victim!" Bulkhead said looking angry and slightly embarrassed.

Saberwolf tried not to laugh at the image that popped into her head; Bulkhead's head separate from his body.

"He… steals bodies?" Saberwolf said, trying to be serious.

"Yes. He's a real menace! I have to reattach the heads that he removes!" Ratchet said grumpily.

"You did not! Bulkhead reattached himself!" Bumblebee said.

"Well… He's still a menace!" Ratchet said.

"But he's been rehabilitated. Shouldn't we give him a chance?" Arcee said.

BlackArachnia snickered softly. The team looked up at her. Arcee looked annoyed and slightly hurt. Saberwolf noticed this and glared at BlackArachnia.

"What's so funny?" Arcee asked.

"No I— I'm not laughing at you. It's just— I find the whole situation kind of funny. I… oh never mind. I don't know how to explain it…"

BlackArachnia shook her head.

"Explain what?" Bumblebee asked.

"That Masterson is probably just playing the 'good-guy' routine so he can get in with Sumdac and tear him down from the inside," Saberwolf said, glaring at BlackArachnia.

_Just like you…_

BlackArachnia picked up on Saberwolf's implication. Now it was her turn to look slightly hurt. Sari, Optimus, Ratchet and Arcee, and Bulkhead gave Saberwolf warning looks; they had picked up on it too.

"Sorry…" Saberwolf mumbled.

_Not._

"For what?" Bumblebee said, "That could be exactly what he's doing!"

Everyone looked at him. He simply blinked back looking innocently confused.

_Over his head…_

Saberwolf shook her head.

"Nothing. It is a possibility. But if the humans are giving him the benefit of the doubt, we should too," Optimus said, optics drilling into Saberwolf.

Saberwolf shuffled her paws a bit.

"Yeah…" she said.

There was an awkward silence.

"Weeeelllll, I'm gonna go play Mortal Kombat! Wanna play Sari?" Bumblebee asked.

Sari agreed. Bulkhead watched them play and the others grabbed some playing cards that were their size. Saberwolf guessed Sari made them. Saberwolf settled back down in front of the couch and let Sari pet her some more while she tried get a little extra sleep.

_So much for making progress…_

* * *

Ratchet's yelling made Saberwolf jump. She was in her room, where she'd gone to nap since the living room was too loud with the two games going on. She slept longer than she intended, because it was no the middle of the night. Saberwolf wondered what Ratchet was up for. She heard the others waking up and started to curl up to sleep some more. Then she heard Arcee scream.

Saberwolf dashed out of her room, down the hall, down the stairs, and into the living room. The whole team was crowded around a spot on the floor next to the computer. Saberwolf felt an odd set of vibrations through the floor. Like something irregularly shaped was rolling and bouncing.

_What the hell?_

Saberwolf transformed into robot mode and squeezed her way into the circle. It took most of her self restraint to keep from laughing hysterically.

Ratchet was red faced and cursing up a storm. His body was nowhere to be found.

"I'm going to kill that stupid ass human! I'm gonna fuckin' kill him! I'm going to grab his skinny little ass and throw him off the highest cliff I can find! Then I'll resuscitate his corpse and do it all over again! I'm gonna tear his arms from his sockets! Then I'm gonna beat him with that fucking Headmaster unit! I'll tear off his head and use his body as a puppet! See how much he likes it! I'm gonna give him a taste of his own fucking medicine! I'm gonna…"

"Ratchet calm down!" said Optimus, trying to keep the peace.

He wasn't doing well. Everyone started talking all at once.

"Holy crap! How'd he get his headmaster unit back?" came Bumblebee's voice.

"Are you okay? Where's your body?" Arcee sounded like she was moments from sobbing.

"Where the hell did Masterson go?" Sari said angrily.

"Like we didn't see this coming," said Bulkhead.

Ratchet continued to swear. All of the voices overlapped and started to confuse Saberwolf. She couldn't take anymore of it. She transformed and raised her muzzle towards the ceiling. She let out the loudest howl she could. It echoed throughout the entire room and that seemed to make it louder. The whole team flinched and covered their audio receptors. The talking stopped. Even Ratchet fell silent. They all looked at her in shock. Optimus recovered first.

"Thank you Saberwolf," he said. He turned to Ratchet, "Now Ratchet, _calmly_ tell us what happened. Well, as calmly as you can."

Ratchet made and irritated growling sound. Then he sighed and his faceplates grew less red.

"I came out here to get a tool I left out and I saw something move over behind the computer. I walked over to check and the next thing I knew my head was being removed by that piece of shit Masterson! I'm gonna kill him!" Ratchet started ranting again.

"Okay, okay! Ratchet focus!" Optimus's optics were filled with shock and concern, "Did you see where he went?"

"No! My face was in the ground! I couldn't see anything!" Ratchet yelled, faceplates growing redder.

Saberwolf was still trying to hold back laughter.

"I thought they crushed that machine," she said, masking her amusement as best she could.

She decided to stay in wolf mode until she regained her composure, because she wouldn't be able to hide and amused smile in robot mode.

"Apparently he was hiding another one somewhere," BlackArachnia said.

"What does Masterson want with Ratchet's body?" Bumblebee asked.

As if on cue, there came a new voice from outside. It was laughing darkly. The team rushed out, Ratchet rolling to the door behind them. Once outside, Saberwolf again had to hold in laughter.

Where Ratchet's head would be, there was an oversize maroon colored head. It had purple tinted windows for optics, was wearing a stupid looking smirk, and looked completely ridiculous. Saberwolf shook with the effort of containing her laughter.

_That's the Headmaster unit?_

Saberwolf was very glad to be in wolf mode.

"Hello noobs! How's your medic doing?" asked the voice from the Headmaster unit, "Oh, that's right, he's a little bit IN OVER HIS HEAD!"

Saberwolf's amusement faded instantly at the bad joke. The voice, that Saberwolf assumed belong to Masterson, was laughing hysterically.

"Wow. That was bad even for you Masterson!" Bumblebee shouted, "Where's the flow? The comedic timing? Has time in the slammer made you even stupider?"

Masterson stopped laughing.

"Shut up noob!" he yelled back, "No one asked your opinion!"

"What do you want Masterson?" Optimus asked.

Masterson gave a deep chuckle.

"Isn't it obvious? I want to cripple you Autonoobs!" Masterson said, "I stole your medic's body so you will have no way of repairing yourselves after I'm done totally powning you!"

"Okay if I hear another stupid video game term I'm going to shoot something," Saberwolf said.

"Oooh! A guard dog! That will make this even more fun!" Masterson said.

Saberwolf transformed.

"I'm not a guard dog," Saberwolf smirked, "Noob."

_That should throw this moron for a loop._

Masterson made an irritated sound.

"You dare to call me a noob? You'll pay for that!" Masterson said.

Saberwolf heard a jet engine approaching. She looked up and saw a fighter jet flying towards them.

"Look out!" she yelled.

The team jumped out of the way of the fast approaching jet.

"Meet my newest toy!" Masterson said with another laugh.

To Saberwolf's surprise, the jet transformed. Saberwolf recognized the body from a wanted poster on Cybertron.

_Starscream?_

Saberwolf noticed there was a smaller Headmaster unit on Starscream's body.

"I had some people working on a newer, smaller Headmaster unit while I was in the slammer! After our last encounter, I decided to make a unit that was small enough to transform! Now I can control any robot! I found this mech dead and rusted and in pieces earlier this morning after I got out. I recognized him, brought him back to my workshop, and now he's mine to control!" Masterson said.

"Starscream?" Bumblebee said in disbelief.

The others looked just as confused.

"Now, FEEL MY WRATH!" Masterson bellowed.

Starscream raised a blaster and shot at the team. Saberwolf somersaulted forward to dodge a blast. She looked back to see a mini horror show.

The team wasn't prepared to be shot at. Bumblebee was fast enough to duck out of the way. The others weren't as lucky. A laser hit Optimus in the abdomen. He doubled over in pain as oil and other fluids spurted out. Bulkhead was hit in the jaw and the left side of his chest. Half of his face had been blasted away and he fell screaming. Oil dripped from his wounds. Sari had managed to dodge a blast. Another laser was coming straight for BlackArachnia's chest. She turned sideways to dodge and ended up having her shoulder grazed. She screamed in pain and fell to her knees. She gripped her shoulder as a strange purple blood flowed out. She looked up to see where the laser went.

Saberwolf watched in horror as the laser flew towards Arcee, who was standing a little bit behind BlackArachnia. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the laser headed straight for her spark chamber. Arcee didn't have time to do anything but watch wide eyed as the laser hit her square in the chest and sent her flying backwards. She screamed, and landed heavily on her back, her hands reaching to cover the hole.

"ARCEE!" Ratchet bellowed miserably.

Saberwolf heard Sari and Bumblebee gasp. She looked up at BlackArachnia, who wasn't too far away from her. BlackArachnia met her gaze and Saberwolf saw a mix of anger, horror, sadness, and guilt in her optics. They both turned their heads to look at Masterson. The world returned to normal speed again. Masterson was laughing darkly.

"Let's see how you noobs handle all of that without a medic!" he shouted.

Starscream transformed and Masterson made Ratchet's body jump on top of the jet as he flew away. Saberwolf watched them disappear with disbelief.

_How could a human be so… so…_

"Evil?" Saberwolf finished the question out loud.

She looked back to the rest of the team. BlackArachnia was kneeling next to Arcee as Sari checked her. She had a web over her shoulder as a bandage. Ratchet was next to Arcee's head, not speaking and not looking away from her face. The amount of emotion in his optics was too much for Saberwolf to look at. She walked over to help with the damage assessment.

"Her spark's still in one piece. Luckily the laser dissipated after cracking open the chamber," Sari said, "But she's still in critical condition. We need to get her to the medical lab immediately."

"No," Ratchet finally spoke, "Moving her that far is too risky in her condition. We can move her inside, but after that we'll have to bring the medical lab to her. Saberwolf go check the others!"

Ratchet seemed to recover a little when he realized Arcee still had a chance. Saberwolf checked the other's wounds. It made her really want to shoot something.

"They've all been hit in vital spots. Optimus is leaking a lot of fluid," Saberwolf reported.

At that BlackArachnia jumped up. Her eyes were clouded with the same emotions as Ratchet's had been moments ago. She ran over to Optimus and knelt next to his side. She spun another web and covered his wound with it to help stop up the leaks.

"Stay with me Optimus, stay with me," Saberwolf heard her mumble.

"We need to move all of them inside," Ratchet said, "ASAP."

Saberwolf nodded. She scooped up Arcee with extreme care. She walked as carefully as she could and set Arcee down on the ground once she was inside. Sari ran to get supplies. Saberwolf stood out of the way as BlackArachnia and Bumblebee carefully placed a barely conscious Optimus next to unconscious Arcee. They all went outside and tried to lift Bulkhead. After finding it impossible to lift him more than a few inches, they went inside and grabbed a big, flat industrial cart. They pulled it outside, lifted him onto it and tried to push it inside. Sari ran out to help.

"Lucky this cart was here," Bumblebee said as they rolled Bulkhead next to Optimus. He was unconscious as well.

"Well, it is a manufacturing plant," Sari said, "They needed something to move around tons of parts."

"Sari! Stop chit-chatting and help me! I need you to be my hands!" Ratchet said.

Sari ran over to where Ratchet was next to Arcee. He started instructing her. He had to tell her three times before she was sure she could do it.

_We need to get his body back or this could take forever. They don't have forever._

"So what are we going to do now?" Bumblebee asked.

"We have two things on our agenda," it was BlackArachnia who answered.

Saberwolf looked over and saw her get up from where Optimus was and walk over.

"First we need to get Ratchet's body back," BlackArachnia said, "And we'll complete the second part as we do this."

BlackArachnia walked past them to the door.

"And what would the second part be?" Bumblebee asked.

BlackArachnia looked back at Optimus and the others. Her optics burned with anger and sadness. Then she turned back towards the door and her gaze was hidden.

"We're going to make Masterson pay," her voice was dark and merciless, causing Saberwolf and Bumblebee both to shudder, "Let's roll."

BlackArachnia transformed and crawled quickly out. Saberwolf felt a little bit of respect for BlackArachnia. She transformed and ran after her, Bumblebee not far behind in his vehicle mode. Saberwolf searched for the scent of jet fuel. She picked it up in the air. She ran ahead, motioning for the others to follow her, and let her sense of smell guide her.

After about half an hour of running, Saberwolf heard the sound of the jet. She turned down an alley and stopped.

"They're close. I can hear Starscream," Saberwolf said.

BlackArachnia crawled up a building signaling for Saberwolf and Bumblebee to wait in the alley. She disappeared over the top of the building. She reappeared shortly, optics full of angry determination.

"They're around the corner. They're headed towards Sumdac Tower," BlackArachnia reported.

"Oh great, they're gonna mess with Sari's dad!" Bumblebee said.

"Not while I still function," BlackArachnia said, "they're taking their time, messing with civilians. If we move quickly we can get between them and the tower."

"Sounds good," Saberwolf said, surprised at how well BlackArachnia was handling the situation.

"I'll go by the building tops. Bumblebee, take the streets, since you blend in. Saberwolf, take the alley ways and try to stay out of sight. We'll meet on Main Street," BlackArachnia climbed up again.

Saberwolf took off through the alleyways and Bumblebee headed out onto the street.

Saberwolf got to Main street first, BlackArachnia second, and Bumblebee not far behind. They didn't have to wait long before Masterson showed up. He was carrying a truck with Ratchet's magnets. He saw the three of them and threw the car at Bumblebee. Bumblebee transformed and fired a shot at it. Saberwolf heard two humans screaming from inside the cab.

_Oh shit!_

Saberwolf transformed and pulled out her blade. She forced energy through the handle and the blade lit up. She split it into two blades, threw one and let it absorb the bolt of electricity while she jumped up to meet the truck. She cut off the roof and pulled a man and a little girl out of the cab. The two truck pieces crashed to the ground and Saberwolf landed gently. The two humans were shaken, but otherwise unharmed. Saberwolf set them carefully on the ground and they ran away.

"Nice move! Now it's my turn!" Masterson said.

Saberwolf turned and saw a laser flying at her from Starscream's blaster. She narrowed her optics and used her energy blade to absorb the laser. The one she threw came back and cut off the arm that Starscream had raised to shoot with. Saberwolf caught it put the two blades back together in one. She looked over to see what the others were doing and saw BlackArachnia shoot a web to cover the main Headmaster unit. Bumblebee shot an electric bolt at Ratchet's foot to trip Masterson. It worked, but a bit of Ratchet's plating fell off.

"Bumblebee don't mess up Ratchet's body! Aim only for the Headmaster unit and don't shoot unless you know you'll hit it and nothing else!" BlackArachnia shouted.

"Oh right! Sorry!" Bumblebee said.

Saberwolf stopped watching them and paid attention to the threat she was dealing with. Starscream was about to fire at her again. Saberwolf jumped up and kicked the blaster just as it was about to shoot. The laser flew up into the sky. Saberwolf grabbed the blaster and ripped it off of Starscream's arm. She threw it to Bumblebee, who blew it up with zap from his stingers. Saberwolf elbowed Starscream in the chest and punched him in the jaw. She grabbed his arm and swung around to his back, pinning his arm there. She pushed him to the ground and held him there. A memory of Kup flashed into her head, but she shook it away quickly.

_Focus!_

Saberwolf looked up at BlackArachnia, who was dodging cars that Masterson was throwing. He'd gotten the webs off.

"Arachnia!" Saberwolf shouted to get her attention.

"A little busy wolf!" BlackArachnia shouted.

She shot another web at the Headmaster unit and looked over while he was distracted.

"What?"

"Any restrictions on this one?" Saberwolf asked.

BlackArachnia's eyes narrowed at the Decepticon symbols on the mech's wings.

"Feel free to tear it to pieces," she said.

Saberwolf nodded.

"Will do."

Saberwolf grabbed the little Headmaster unit and ripped it off of Starscream's chassis. Starscream's body fell still and the paint faded to grey. Saberwolf left the body and cut the mini Headmaster unit in half with her sword.

"Saberwolf, get the big one!" Bumblebee shouted as he shot it.

The main Headmaster unit was detached when bumblebee shot it and it went flying through the air. Saberwolf transformed and jumped forward to meet it. She grabbed it in her jaws and landed lightly. She shook the unit violently, taking pleasure in Masterson's screams as he ran into the sides of the unit. Saberwolf pushed up off of her front paws, and as she came back down she slammed the Headmaster unit into the ground. Masterson screamed in pain.

"Hey Arachnia! Catch!" Saberwolf shouted.

She batted the unit towards BlackArachnia with her paw. It flew threw the air towards the femme. BlackArachnia's optics burned with hatred and anger as she raised her hands to catch the Headmaster unit. She stuck her fingers into a crack in the side of it and, using strength gathered from somewhere Saberwolf couldn't identify, bent the metal head open. She reached in and picked up Masterson. He was wearing a strange suit that matched the Headmaster unit.

"LET GO OF ME YOU FILTHY NOOB!" he shouted.

"Shut up!" BlackArachnia threw him into a car that had been upturned. Masterson screamed in pain again. BlackArachnia wrapped a web around his neck and pulled him back to her. He struggled for a moment, choking sounds coming from his throat, then BlackArachnia threw him against a building, webs loosening and coming off as he flew. Saberwolf heard a painful crack as he made contact with the building. He let out the worst sound Saberwolf had ever heard come form a human. BlackArachnia ran over and pinned him to the building with his hand. Saberwolf couldn't get a clear view of what was broken. She and Bumblebee watched in shock as BlackArachnia clamped her hand tightly around Masterson.

"You will pay for this!" Masterson yelled.

"You might want to be careful when threatening me," BlackArachnia said.

BlackArachnia lifted the Autobot sticker a little, revealing the corners of the Decepticon symbol branded onto her plating.

"You… You're a Decepticon!" Masterson said, fear in his voice, "P-p-please d-d-don't k-kill me!"

"Formerly. But don't worry. I'm not going to kill you. Autobots don't kill," BlackArachnia said, voice twisting, "But if you ever put so much as a scratch on Optimus, or any of my other friends, I might just have a relapse. And I'll make sure it's aimed solely on you."

BlackArachnia's tone was dark and threatening. Saberwolf and Bumblebee shuddered again. Saberwolf looked BlackArachnia over. Her shoulder wound was oozing purple blood, she was covered in dirt and bits of asphalt, and her optics were burning like the deepest pits of hell. She was terrifying.

"Ok-k-k-ay! I-I-I p-p-p-promise!" Masterson said miserably.

"I'm glad we understand each other."

BlackArachnia wrapped him up in webs. The police had arrived.

"Enjoy the slammer," BlackArachnia said, flicking him into an open S.W.A.T. truck. The humans moved to close the doors. Just as they were about to shut, Masterson poked his head out.

"What about my Headmaster unit?" he asked, concern flooding his eyes.

"Hmm…" Saberwolf said, dragging her claws through the metal on the Headmaster unit, "I was thinking of making it my new chew toy."

Saberwolf laughed at the devastated look on Masterson's face as the S.W.A.T. can drove away.

"Good work Autobots," said a short, plump, blonde haired human male in an officer's uniform.

He looked up at BlackArachnia and his eyes narrowed.

"Arachnid," he said coldly.

"Nice to see you're warming up to me Captain Fanzone," BlackArachnia said sarcastically.

Saberwolf assumed this was the blonde man's name.

"You may have all the others fooled with this 'I've changed' act," Captain Fanzone said, "But this incident has only made me even more sure that a criminal is always a criminal."

"Right. Because I've gone and given you plenty of reasons to think I'm still on the Decepticons side, haven't I?" BlackArachnia said, sarcasm still heavy in her voice.

"I've got my eyes on you Spider," Captain Fanzone said.

"I expect nothing less," BlackArachnia said, crossing her arms.

Fanzone walked back to a little car that looked Bumblebee's muddy twin. Saberwolf was somewhat glad there was another being that was of the same opinion as her. But part of her felt like sticking up for BlackArachnia because of her outstanding performance.

"Uh, Captain? We kinda need to get Ratchet's body back to him ASAP. Think we can borrow one of your helicopters?" Bumblebee asked.

Fanzone paused from getting into the car. He looked over at Ratchet's body. Then he looked at Starscream's body. Finally his gaze fell on Saberwolf. He sighed.

"Fine. But it better be quick. I have a date with my mattress tonight," Fanzone said, "And introductions can wait 'till tomorrow."

The last statement was aimed at Saberwolf.

Fanzone phoned for some helicopters. Bumblebee transformed so he could fit better. Two helicopters showed up. Saberwolf tried to avoid it, but she ended up on the same helicopter as BlackArachnia. Their helicopter carried Starscream's beneath it with chains. The other one carried Ratchet's body in a similar fashion, as well as Bumblebee inside.

_These are some big helicopters…_

Saberwolf sat as far from BlackArachnia as possible. She respected her a little more after dealing with Masterson, but she still didn't like her or trust her much.

The helicopter she was in flew towards Lake Erie while Bumblebee and Fanzone headed straight to the plant.

"Well there goes the secrecy of our base," BlackArachnia said under her breath.

"Considering that we have bots counting on us to get home fast, I think we can live if a few police know where home is," Saberwolf said.

"Touché," BlackArachnia said, "So does this mean we're on speaking terms?"

Saberwolf stared out onto the city as they flew towards the lake.

"Maybe," she said.

The rest of the ride was silent. They dumped Starscream's body in the lake so no one could get to it again. When they got to the plant they found Ratchet in one piece carrying Arcee towards the medical lab. Sari walked over to them as they entered.

"The others are stable. They'll be on bed rest for a few days in the medical lab. Arcee isn't doing as well, but Ratchet said she'll pull through," Sari said as they all followed Ratchet.

Bumblebee was standing next to Bulkhead, who was awake and sitting up. They were writing back and fourth on a little holonote pad. Bulkhead's jaw seemed to be wired shut so he couldn't speak.

"Amazingly, Bulkhead wasn't as damaged as he looked. It was mostly cosmetic. He has to hold his jaw shut for two days," Sari said, "Ratchet wired it to make be absolutely sure he wouldn't try to talk. Optimus has been hanging onto consciousness. He doesn't have the strength to speak, but I think he's been waiting for you BlackArachnia."

BlackArachnia thanked Sari and all but sprinted to Optimus's side. Saberwolf took note of how she held onto his hand and whispered softly to him to rest. The look in her optics was like she was in her own little world with him. Saberwolf doubted it was an act.

Sari's big yawn interrupted her thoughts.

"Sari, go to bed. It's late. Bumblebee, leave Bulkhead to rest. You and Saberwolf need sleep too. You can visit in the morning," Ratchet said, sounding more himself now that Arcee was on the road to recovery, "BlackArachnia…"

Ratchet looked up from Arcee to meet an icy glare from BlackArachnia.

"Never mind," Ratchet said, looking back at his work with a small smirk.

Saberwolf followed Bumblebee and Sari out. She realized that she was actually very tired. She went straight to her room, transformed, curled up in the corner and fell asleep.

She was met instantly with nightmares. Kup and Perceptor chased her with stasis cuffs, a giant BlackArachnia threw her around with a web. Then she was surrounded by dark laughter. Decepticons surrounded her. They got closer and closer. The laughter belonged to Megatron. He appeared in front of her and raised is cannon. Saberwolf was held in place by millions of searing hot Decepticon hands. She saw a flash of blue in the far corner of her vision. She looked over to see Prowl's ghost trying to reach her through the sea of Decepticons. Then Megatron's cannon consumed her.

Saberwolf woke with a start. It was morning, but Saberwolf still felt more exhausted then when she had gone to sleep. She heard a light tapping on her door. She rose shakily to her feet, realizing she'd transformed in her sleep. As she walked across the room she found that she'd thrown her mattress pillow across the room. Saberwolf tossed it back into the corner and saw glowing orange marks on the walls.

_Wonderful…_

Saberwolf unlocked her door and it slid open. She stepped out and her foot hit something hard. Saberwolf looked down and saw the mangled Headmaster unit with a note attached to it. She read it to herself.

_I told Optimus about our success today once he had the strength to listen to the whole story. He says good job. While I was telling the story I realized you left your "new chew toy" behind. I thought you might want it. _

_ BlackArachnia_

_P.S. I picked up the wolf on the way back. The lady I bought it from said it had calming qualities. I figured it would help with the nightmares._

Saberwolf noticed there was a big wolf plush toy inside the Headmaster unit. She looked around and saw BlackArachnia peeking around the corner. The purple femme smiled and gave a little nod. Saberwolf stared at her for a moment. BlackArachnia seemed genuine. Saberwolf nodded back, then brought the two items into her room. Once inside she locked the door again and leaned against it. She smiled a bit. She set the Headmaster unit in the corner next to the door. She transformed and carried the plush wolf over to her sleeping corner. She curled up with the wolf in her paws. She reflected on BlackArachnia's actions throughout the day.

_Okay Saberwolf. Maybe you can try a little harder to accept her. She's trying._

Saberwolf fell asleep again. This time her sleep was peaceful.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Recognition**

Megatron watched the guards outside his cell carefully.

"Testing. Testing 1, 2, 3," Waspinator's voice softly met Megatron's audio receptors, "Can Megatron hear Waspinator?"

"Yes. I can hear you and the guards can't," Megatron whispered, "You're sure this com signal won't be picked up?"

"Yes. Waspinator made sure of it," Waspinator said.

"Excellent work Waspinator," Megatron said.

Waspinator showing up in person had become too suspicious. The amount of guards around Megatron's cell had increased and the Stockade was becoming stricter. Sentinel Prime was no longer allowed in whenever he wanted. Megatron was pleased with this, but he didn't like the risk of Waspinator being found out. So they decided to work on figuring out how to communicate without the need to be face-to-face. Waspinator had figured out how to reactivate Megatron's com link while hiding its signal from any bot on Cybertron. He also rigged it to be controlled mentally, since Megatron's hands were not able to reach his communicator. Now Megatron could carry out quiet conversations with Waspinator without him having to be there.

This did two jobs at once; it allowed Megatron to make plans while convincing the Autobots he wasn't a threat. They would see him whispering to himself, think he was starting to be affected by the many cycles in the Stockade and was therefore useless.

_They'll never see it coming when we raise this place to the ground!_

Megatron chuckled darkly.

"Perfect," he said a little louder than he meant to.

The guards looked back at him suspiciously. He eyed them angrily. They gazed around his cell, then shrugged and faced forward again.

_Yes… go about your business while you can Autobot scum…_

Megatron realized Waspinator had been speaking to him. He started listening to what he was saying.

"… Are all on board. We'll have plenty of backup when the time comes to destroy the stockades," Waspinator said, "And Waspinator have found the perfect place to warp every bot to when we're done!"

Waspinator laughed like a maniac.

"Then we go get Spider Bot and force her to fix Waspinator!"

"Yes... Is there anyone else you can recruit?" Megatron asked, hoping he would get a hint as to who Waspinator had just recruited.

He didn't ask Waspinator to repeat because he didn't want Waspinator to question him.

"Waspinator already talked to every Decepticon in here," Waspinator said, "But Waspinator could talk to some of the bots in Minimum Security. They are all civilian criminals, but they may be useful."

"Yes. See if you can recruit a few of them. But not too many. I don't feel like doing a bunch of initiations."

"Understood. Waspinator out."

The line clicked and went dead. Megatron hung up as well, feeling slightly annoyed with Waspinator speaking to him as an equal. He was used to being treated like a king. A lord. Waspinator talked to him like he would any other bot. Megatron hated it.

_I'll have to correct him when I get out…_

Megatron sighed. He again found himself consumed by boredom. The guards had started up a conversation and Megatron listened in because he had nothing better to do.

"So did ya go to the graduation ceremony for the fresh batch of Academy bots?" the short, stout mech on the left asked.

His voice was low and sounded like he had something stuck in his mouth.

"Nah. Didn't have a reason," replied the tall slender femme on the right.

Her voice was high pitched and clear. Slightly annoying.

"Well I did. Had to see if we were getting any Shinies," the mech said.

"Academy bots rarely end up on guard duty," said the femme.

"Yeah but I still like to check."

"Hey isn't that the class with that one femme with the wolf mode?" asked the femme.

_Wolf mode?_

Megatron was surprised that he actually found their conversation interesting.

"Yeah. That's why I brought it up. I got a huge shock when they read out what team she was assigned to," the mech said.

"It shouldn't have been a shock. We all knew she was gonna end up with Elite Guard when she gradu—"

"She wasn't placed with Elite Guard!" the mech interrupted.

"What?" the femme seemed thoroughly shocked, "Where then? Not here, surely."

"I wish. She was put on Optimus Prime's team!" the mech said.

Megatron's circuits sizzled when he heard Optimus's name.

"You're kidding!"

"I'm not! Alpha Trion said it plain as day!" the mech said matter-of-factly, "She seemed real happy 'bout it. Course it's hard to tell for sure with her."

"Yeah I know what you mean," the femme said, "Optimus huh? Lucky bastard. I'd give anything to work with her."

Megatron wondered what could be so special about this femme they were talking about.

"Yeah. You know when they came through to tour the Stockade and learn about it?" the mech asked.

"Yeah. Part of that criminal justice class or whatnot."

"Well I was helping with that thing and it was really weird. She never looked into any of the MinSec cells, though the others seemed real curious. And when we got to MedSec, some of the bots seemed to recognize her," the mech said.

"You're crazy," said the femme.

"Maybe, but I'm tellin' ya Beta, there was recognition in their optics," the mech said.

"Right. Skids old pal, you need your processor checked," the femme, whose name Megatron assumed to be Beta, said.

"Shut up."

"So anyway, what is it that femme calls herself? Something weird… had 'wolf' in it somewhere," Beta said.

"Saberwolf. That's what she calls herself. I don't think that's what it originally was though. But if you ask she gets all weird. Like she can't remember her real name," the mech, Skids, said.

"Weird. Weirder name. Wonder why she chose it…"

"Somethin' to do with the fact that she can turn her arms into energy sabers? And she transforms into a mechanical wolf," Skids suggested.

"Clever," Beta said, "Cool power that is though."

"Yep…"

Megatron's optics narrowed.

_She can turn her arms into energy blades? It can't be…_

"So Optimus gets her huh? Well good for him. He does deserve to be surrounded by good bots," Beta said.

"Yeah. Hey speakin' of good bots…"

Megatron tuned out their conversation as they changed to talking about something less interesting.

_Only one femme bot I know can turn her arms into energy blades… Is she finally showing her face again?_

Megatron smiled at the thought.

_Then there is still hope for her… But I must be sure. _

"Megatron to Waspinator."

Megatron made sure to keep his voice low.

"Yes?"

Megatron ground his dental plate at the way Waspinator addressed, or rather didn't, him.

"I need you to find some information on a bot. Her name is Saberwolf. See what you can find on Autobot records."

* * *

Megatron mulled over the information he'd received from Waspinator.

There was no information to be found about Saberwolf before she suddenly joined the Autobots. She excelled at everything she did, including pissing off her Drill Instructor while in Boot Camp. She had very high aptitude test scores and while she had the ability to skip up several grades in the Academy, she stayed with her class. She had astounding physical ability and seemed to have super senses. Her main weapon was a high-tech sword that appeared to have the ability to channel her energy blade power and turn into one itself. She also had two daggers that were the high heels of her feet. She was also great with every weapon she was given. She seemed to know every subject of the classes she took before she took them. She was presented many awards but she was too modest to accept them. She didn't have many friends. In fact the only bots she socialized with were the Elite Guard bots. However she openly disliked their leader, Sentinel Prime.

_Who does?_

She was a formidable warrior and Megatron was absolutely sure she was the femme he thought she was. He wasn't surprised that some of his Decepticons recognized her when she toured the stockade. He wished they had allowed the group in Maximum Security. He would have liked to greet her.

_So you go by Saberwolf now, little bounty hunter? And you're an Autobot. I have to admit you've done well for yourself girl. You're really turning around. Too bad it can't last. Not if you are the right bot…_

Megatron smirked. He was glad to find out that she was not dead. After she ran away, he had feared he would never find her again.

_And now she's on earth. With the pitiful Optimus Prime… This will make my quest much more fun…_

"Megatron to Swindle."

Waspinator had informed Megatron that he could make calls to any bot without being picked up.

He heard sounds of a party as Swindle picked up on the other line. He didn't address Megatron immediately.

"Hey, hey! I have a phone call! Can I get some privacy!" Megatron heard him call to some bots in the background.

Megatron was surprised to find himself amused at Swindle rather than angry.

"Hello?" Swindle said, addressing Megatron now.

"Hello Swindle."

"Do my audio receptors deceive me? I that Megatron I hear?" Swindle said, shock in his voice.

"Yes. This is Megatron. I need you to—"

"Megatron! My lord! It's great to hear from you! I heard you were in the slammer? Are you free now? That's wonderful! We should get together some time! I like to keep up with my best customers, as you know. Maybe we could meet up some place. Right now I'm residing on a lovely—"

"Swindle!" Megatron whispered harshly, "I'm in no mood to discuss _your _situation. I'm not exactly in the place for that."

"What do you mean? … Eh, my liege," Swindle asked.

"I'm still in the Stockade," Megatron said irritably.

"Oh… then how—"

"I have a very sneaky friend who set up my communicator for me," Megatron glanced over at his guards, but they weren't paying attention to his whispers, "No one can pick us up."

"Well that's… that's wonderful! So er… to what do I owe this… risky phone call?" Swindle said hesitantly.

"Do you remember the femme from several stellar-cycles ago?"

"Honestly Megatron, there have been a lot of femmes over the years…" Swindle said with a chuckle.

Megatron rolled his optics.

"This one was different. Young, weak, sad, pitiful in every way," Megatron said.

"If that's the case I would simply have looked her over," Swindle said, tone changing to one of concern, "Are you sure you're all right in there?"

"But full of so much potential," Megatron continued as if Swindle had never spoken, "And she had a very unique power."

"Uh… Not ringing any bells…"

"In fact, it was so unique I had you build a special weapon around it. A sword I believe," Megatron mused.

His mind traveled back several stellar-cycles. The memories of watching the young bot train with her sword flowed through his head for a moment. He blinked them away so he could continue his conversation.

"Does it ring any bells now?" Megatron asked, his normal tone back.

"I do remember building a special sword. It was a channel for energy," Swindle said.

Megatron stayed silent as Swindle no doubt had a short flashback of his own.

"Ah… I see… The bounty hunter girl," Swindle said, "Yes I remember her now. I thought she went offline or something. What a shame it was. She was almost as good a customer as you, Lord Megatron."

"No. She did not go offline. Surprisingly enough, she's an Autobot now," Megatron said disdainfully.

"Oh wonderful!" Swindle's voice was heavy with sarcasm.

"Actually it is."

"I don't follow," Swindle sounded concerned again.

"Autobot or Decepticon, it won't matter. As long as she is alive, she still has potential," Megatron said.

"Okay… If you say so…" Swindle said.

Megatron found himself greatly annoyed at Swindle's doubt.

"I do say so, Swindle!" Megatron remembered he must remain quiet, "And I have a special job for you."

"Really?" Swindle jumped back to his businessman like tone.

"Yes. The girl is going about her solar-cycles on Earth as we speak. I want you to go there and spy for me. Since my best spy is in the cell next to me," Megatron said, "She calls herself Saberwolf now. She works with that pitiful prime that put me in here."

"Optimus Prime? I see… I assume you want some information on him and his team as well," Swindle said.

"If you would be so kind," Megatron said, slightly humiliated that his captor was now so well known, even by his own warriors, "And I will need replacement weapons for my warriors here in the stockade. We will be out of here soon enough and we'll be meeting you on Earth's neighbor, Mars."

"Out? On what, good behavior?"

"More like a get out of jail free wasp," Megatron said.

"Wasp?" Swindle asked.

"You'll see."

"Okay then… I assume I'll be compensated for my troubles?" Swindle asked.

Megatron sighed.

"Aren't you always?"

"Yes, yes I am. Well I'll be sure to fill your order," Swindle said.

"Get started immediately," Megatron said, "Saberwolf. Remember that name."

"Yes sir," Swindle said.

"Megatron out."

Megatron hung up. He knew he needn't worry about whether Swindle would come through or not. Swindle knew the compensation was always good, and it beat the alternative. Megatron chuckled darkly as he pictured it. Then Saberwolf's image flashed in front of his optics.

_Ah yes… Hmm… My only images of you are ones from your youth. What do you look like now? Not much different I assume. You aren't one for change…_

Megatron tried to think of what a mature Saberwolf would look like. He grew bored of this and decided to get more recharge. The energon seemed to get worse as the security got tighter. He found himself weary more often than not. He could hardly wait for his escape. But it was coming soon. He closed his optics.

_Saberwolf… You had so much potential. Let's see what you've done with it…_

This thought lulled Megatron into the sweet darkness of recharge.


	14. Chapter 14

**_i think you'll all like this chapter a lot. and that's all i'm gonna say about it. :) enjoy!_**

**_Disclaimer: hasbro owns transformers. blah blah blah_**

* * *

**Chapter 14: Comfort and Lessons**

Saberwolf paced slowly back towards the plant. She and Bumblebee had been sent out to do a bit of scouting, and they brought Sari along since they had all been itching to get out. It had been uneventful. Nothing of interest, be it bad or not, had happened. Saberwolf didn't mind, and Bumblebee and Sari seemed to be enjoying each other's company so much, Saberwolf doubted whether they'd even notice if something was out of the normal.

Saberwolf watched as they walked in front of her. Sari was sitting on Bumblebee's shoulder pointing out stars and constellations as they walked through a small park. Bumblebee had started to take more of an interest in things like that. Saberwolf guessed it was Sari's doing. Saberwolf couldn't help but notice what a perfect pair they made. They both were fun loving and hyper, yet Sari had this more mature and calm side that balanced Bumblebee's almost constant hyperness. Every time they were together, they were happy. Saberwolf noticed Bumblebee treated Sari different then he did his other best friend, Bulkhead. He interacted with her more like how Ratchet did with Arcee, Optimus with BlackArachnia.

_Sari and Bumblebee… _

Saberwolf saw Sari lean against Bumblebee's helm affectionately. She averted her eyes, feeling like she was invading on something.

_Why not let them have the rest of the walk alone?_

"Hey you guys! Go on ahead! I think I'm gonna wander the city. It's a beautiful night," Saberwolf called.

They jumped and looked back as if they'd forgotten she was there. Bumblebee looked confused, but Sari had a knowing look in her eyes. She nodded, mouthed 'thank you' and waved goodbye. Saberwolf gave a small nod and turned to her left. She saw a statue in the center of the park and walked towards it. As she got closer she felt a familiar pull. She noticed this area had a more distinct woodsy scent to it. She felt her spark flutter and wondered what was causing it. She stopped and looked up at the statue. She looked to the right of it and had the sense that she was making eye contact with something. Her spark skipped a beat. She quickly moved her gaze somewhere else.

_What the fuck?_

She tried to make sense of what was going on. Then suddenly her sight was overwhelmed by bright white lights. She heard several clicks like the shutter of a camera. She heard some human voices saying "wow" and "cool" and realized she was being swarmed by photo happy humans. She growled in annoyance and ran off into some trees at the edge of the park that bordered the forest. She hid behind a rock and watched to make sure the pesky humans didn't follow. They just stared into the woods dejectedly. They were some teens with skateboards, so they moved on quickly enough. Saberwolf sighed.

"It can get slightly irritating, can't it?"

Saberwolf jumped at Prowl's voice. His ghostly blue form had materialized behind her. Saberwolf transformed quickly, not realizing there wasn't enough clearance from the trees here. Her head snapped a branch off of one of them when she stood up.

"Ouch!" Saberwolf looked down at the big branch, "Oops…"

Saberwolf felt instantly embarrassed. She wasn't usually this clumsy. In fact, she was usually the exact opposite.

Prowl simply chuckled. He held out his hand.

"Care to go for a walk?" Prowl asked, "Somewhere with taller trees maybe?"

Saberwolf rubbed the back of her head that hit the big branch.

_What is wrong with me?_

"Sure," Saberwolf said.

She took his hand and shivered. Her spark pounded in its chamber and Saberwolf swore the whole world could hear it. Prowl didn't seem to notice as he lead her through the trees a relatively clear path. Saberwolf only had to duck a few times. It got a lot darker as they weaved through the trees, and there were so many she was thankful that Prowl had offered his hand to lead her through. She doubted even her ability to get through this without help. They started to move uphill and at the top they came out of the trees into a clearing. Saberwolf sighed in relief. She had begun to think they'd never make it out of the trees.

She stood of a moment, taking in the clearing. The grass was thick and tall and soft. The ground was soft and the whole area had a fresh forest scent to it.

"Wow…" Saberwolf thought out loud.

"I came here with Jazz while I was finishing my Cyber ninja training," Prowl said.

Saberwolf realized her hand was still in Prowl's. She pulled her hand away awkwardly. Prowl looked at her and Saberwolf saw a flash of disdain as she did so. She blinked and it was gone. She herself felt like putting her hand back into his. She shook herself and started walking around the clearing.

_Get it together Saberwolf! Whatever's wrong with you, get over it. You look stupid!_

"Cyber ninja training… I've heard of that. There used to be a dojo that taught it, but by the time I got to it, it was closed," Saberwolf said, "It's too bad. I've always wanted to—"

Saberwolf stopped when she looked at Prowl. His face had grown solemn and his optics grew distant. She waited for him to come back before she said anything.

"Prowl? Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm… I'm fine. I used to train at that dojo," Prowl said.

"Oh… Sorry if I brought up sad memories," Saberwolf said.

She decided to change the subject. She knew how hard it could be to deal with sad memories and she wasn't about to put Prowl through it.

"This is a beautiful place," Saberwolf said, "And very isolated. I like it."

She cycled some air and reveled in the wonderful smells of the forest. She smiled. She became aware of optics on her and turned to see Prowl watching her with a thoughtful look.

"What?" Saberwolf asked, slightly defensively.

"What have you always wanted?" Prowl asked.

"What?" Saberwolf was now confused.

"You were saying something earlier but cut off," Prowl said, "You've always wanted to…"

Saberwolf nodded in understanding.

"I've always wanted to train as a Cyber ninja. I was going to join the dojo but…" Saberwolf stopped herself, watching Prowl carefully.

Prowl laughed a little.

"For a bot who acts like she doesn't care about others much, you sure do care a lot about other's feelings," Prowl said.

"What?" Saberwolf was confused again, "How do you know that's how I act?"

It was Prowl's turn to be slightly embarrassed. Saberwolf saw his faceplates grow darker blue as he blushed a little.

"I've been… Well I guess I've been watching you… I watch all of the others as well and I just happened to notice," Prowl asked.

"Oh…" Saberwolf's spark pounded.

_He's been watching me?_

It made Saberwolf feel oddly flattered rather than creeped out like most would be. She actually smiled a bit.

"So why do you put up that front?" Prowl asked.

Saberwolf's fluttering spark flopped. The giddiness she'd been full of froze and her smile faded, her face forming its usual mask. She turned away from Prowl and said nothing. She gazed up at the stars instead. Prowl was silent for a moment.

"You're an interesting bot, you know that?" Prowl said.

Saberwolf turned back to Prowl.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Saberwolf said defensively.

"You distance yourself from others, you act like you don't care, but you tread carefully when you speak so you don't hurt feelings," Prowl said.

_Why must he continue to talk about this…?_

"What's it to you?" Saberwolf said, a sting in her voice.

Prowl looked shocked at her tone.

"I'm simply making an observation," Prowl said.

The look on her face made Saberwolf's expression soften.

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

There was silence again. Saberwolf walked to the center of the clearing and say down in the soft grass. She pulled one knee up towards her chest and rested her forearm on it. She looked up and saw the constellation called The Big Dipper. She wondered how a smaller version of this would make up a bear, as she had learned it did from her two stellar-cycle long stint of research about Earth. The set of stars simply looked like a spoon or a ladle. Not a part of a bear. Saberwolf shrugged the thought away.

Prowl walked over and sat next to her. Saberwolf felt her pulse speed up a little.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Prowl asked.

Saberwolf sighed.

_It couldn't hurt to open up a little… Why do I put up an unapproachable front?_

"I've never really thought about it much…" Saberwolf looked down at the grass, "I guess… I'm afraid."

"Of what?"

Saberwolf was silent. She didn't want to talk about this anymore.

"Saberwolf," Prowl rested a hand on her shoulder.

Saberwolf looked up at Prowl and saw concern in his optics. She wondered what made him so concerned for her. The idea that he was caused her spark to jump.

"What are you afraid of?" Prowl asked.

Looking into his optics, Saberwolf felt it would be okay if she told him. That her mind would spare her from the horrible memories that sprung up when she spoke of things like this.

"Losing another bot close to me," Saberwolf said.

Prowl gave her an empathetic look. Saberwolf felt grief rising in her spark chamber. She couldn't stop the images of the bots she'd lost from flashing into her head. She shook with grief and pulled her knees up and hiding her face in them. She trembled and felt hysteria threatening her.

She felt Prowl's cold arms around her. He held her close and spoke to her soothingly. She couldn't make out what she was saying, because as soon as he'd held her she broke into sobs. She leaned into his side, surprised at how solid he seemed to be. She tried to control herself but failed at it, which only made her more upset.

_Why try to control it? He won't judge you. Just let yourself grieve for a bit._

Saberwolf decided immediately to do just that. She felt safe in Prowl's arms. She knew they were alone. She felt that, despite having no knowledge of him to base it off of, he would not think any less of her.

So she let Prowl comfort her. She listened to him saying "it's okay" over and over, not caring so much about the words, but the soothing tone. After a few cycles she had recovered. She cycled some of the cool night air and pulled away from Prowl a little. He moved so that only his hand rested over on of her shoulders. Saberwolf looked up at him.

"Are you okay?" Prowl asked.

"Yes," Saberwolf replied, "Thank you."

"Any time."

Saberwolf's spark jumped at the affectionate tone to his voice. She suddenly became extremely aware of their close proximity. But she didn't move away. Her pulse was fast, and each beat of her spark sent a warm sensation through her body. She smiled at Prowl. He smiled back at her.

"You know, we haven't had much of a walk," he said.

Saberwolf laughed.

"No, but I like this clearing," Saberwolf said.

There was another moment of silence. This time it was calm and happy, not awkward or uncomfortable.

"So you've always wanted to become a Cyber ninja?" Prowl asked.

Saberwolf felt herself blush a little.

_What the…?_

"Yeah, I have. Kinda silly…" Saberwolf said.

"Not at all," Prowl said, "You know, I could teach you if you really want to learn."

Saberwolf felt a rush of happiness at the thought of that.

"That would be great!" she said, a little more enthusiastically than she'd wanted to.

Prowl laughed.

"We could start tomorrow. But it would have to be at night," he said.

He looked around the clearing. Saberwolf followed his gaze. The clearing was large and the ground was even. There was no litter of any kind. The ground was very soft.

"This would be a good place," Prowl said.

Saberwolf nodded in agreement. Then she remembered the labyrinth of trees.

"I don't know if I'd be able to find my way back here," Saberwolf said.

"I can show you an easier path," Prowl said, standing.

Saberwolf wanted to protest. She wasn't ready to leave yet.

"Now?" she asked.

"I have to get back," Prowl said.

Saberwolf instantly knew what he meant.

"Oh. Okay then," she got up and followed him to the opposite side of the clearing that they'd entered from.

This trip through the trees was much easier. Saberwolf memorized it as they walked. They came out of the forest at the edge of Lake Erie. Saberwolf knew the way back to the plant from here. She'd travelled the entire perimeter of the lake before.

"So… I'll see you tomorrow night?" Saberwolf asked.

"Yes. At midnight," Prowl said, "I have to go now. Goodbye for now, Saberwolf."

He took hold of her hand and brought it up to his lips. He left a light kiss on the back of her palm, then stepped back and vanished. Saberwolf stood still, hand still outstretched a little, staring at the spot he had disappeared. She realized that her body tingled where he had touched her. She could still feel his cold kiss on her hand. She trembled with a strange happy feeling. She smiled, transformed, and ran as fast as she could home. The air felt amazing. The normal smells of the city, that would usually disgust her, didn't affect her in the slightest. She slowed her pace as she walked through the opening in the fence around the plant. She walked in on clouds. Most of the team was already in their rooms for recharge. BlackArachnia was the only one up.

"There you are. I was starting to worry you'd gotten lost," she said.

"Nope. I just had a really nice walk," Saberwolf said in a dreamy voice.

BlackArachnia looked at her strangely.

"Well I was waiting for you to show before I went to bed," she said, "Are you okay?"

"I'm perfect. I'm going to bed," Saberwolf said, "Goodnight. Sweet dreams and all that."

Saberwolf walked up to her room in a happy daze, leaving and extremely confused BlackArachnia behind.

* * *

Prowl watched as Saberwolf left, then let himself float back to the Well. He felt a wonderful sense of happiness at the thought of seeing Saberwolf again tomorrow night. He couldn't wait to tell Master Yokitron that he would be passing down the things he had taught him. But when he reached the Well, he was received with angry warnings that didn't make any sense to him.

_Watch yourself Prowl._

_Be careful who you speak to._

_You shouldn't go._

_But I told her I'd meet her,_ Prowl said, _Why wouldn't I go?_

_Just be careful._

_Remember your place._

Prowl decided to ignore them. Instead he went to go find Master Yokitron. He smiled when he did.

_Greetings Prowl,_ Yokitron said when he sensed Prowl's approach.

_Master Yokitron,_ Prowl bowed to him in respect.

Without having to speak, Prowl was able to share with his old Master what he wanted to.

_I am happy that you have a pupil Prowl,_ Yokitron said,_ But heed the warnings you've been given. This could become very dangerous._

_I don't understand,_ Prowl said.

Master Yokitron simply shook his head.

_Just be careful who you get close to Prowl._

Prowl nodded, still feeling confused. He knew Yokitron could sense this, but for some reason he was blocking any further thoughts about it.

Prowl said goodbye and drifted around the Well. He tried to figure out what everyone was talking about. Failing, he simply shrugged it away. He decided to go talk with Blurr. He was sure that would be a more positive conversation..

_Saberwolf…_

Thinking about her and the awaiting night, he felt nothing but a warm happiness.


	15. Chapter 15

**_I couldn't help myself. i had to put the angry archer in there. just for fun. hope you enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter 15: Stolen**

Saberwolf ground her dental plates together in aggravation. The others were doing the same. Everyone was shooting hostile glances at Bulkhead, but he was too immersed in what he was doing to notice. He peeked at them once more and Saberwolf finally couldn't take it anymore.

"Bulkhead, how long are you going to have us stand here! I have better things to do with my time than—"

"Done!" Bulkhead exclaimed joyfully, not even realizing he'd cuz Saberwolf off.

The team sighed in relief and quickly moved out of the poses Bulkhead had put them in. They weren't difficult poses, just everyone standing in a clump as if taking a photo. Only this photo was in paint form and it had taken almost all morning. Saberwolf got up off the barrel of oil she'd been sitting on, joints stiff from lack of movement, and walked over to see what Bulkhead had done with all that time. She didn't know how to process what she saw.

The team was all there, but all the proportions and shapes were wrong. Bumblebee was way too tall, Arcee too short, and Sari had more legs than anything else. Saberwolf wasn't even sure if she was there, as her black paint blended into the background color of black. They others, save Sari, gave it a slightly horrified look. Sari smiled, hugged Bulkhead's arm, and said it was great. Saberwolf simply cocked her head in confusion.

"It's umm… Very…" Optimus started.

"Abstract!" Sari said matter-of-factly.

A look of realization spread over the faces of everyone and they smiled and complimented Bulkhead's work. Saberwolf took another look at the painting, knowing now that it was meant to not look real, and saw the beauty in it. She smiled and told Bulkhead it was a wonderful painting.

"It's the main piece in my upcoming showcase," Bulkhead said excitedly, "Sari set it up earlier this week. I have to move all these pieces down to the gallery by nightfall so they can set it up for tomorrow."

"That's awesome buddy!" Bumblebee said, "Can I help?"

"Actually, there's a lot of stuff. I was hoping everyone would pitch in," Bulkhead said, then he quickly added, "If it's not too much trouble!"

"We'd be happy to, Bulkhead," Optimus said, "We can get started right away. We'll transport the other stuff while this one dries."

Everyone agreed and followed Bulkhead to the room he stored his work in. Saberwolf hadn't had a very good look at them. Her optics went wide at the vast collection. She took a good look around at the different paintings, then walked over to a section of things that were covered in bubble wrap and packing paper. The others were transformed into their alternate modes and Bulkhead and Sari were divvying up the load. Saberwolf walked over to help with strapping items to BlackArachnia's back. They used webs to do so, and Saberwolf had to do everything in her power not to complain about their sticky, squishy texture. Once that was done, Sari and Saberwolf loaded up Bulkhead. Saberwolf transformed and they used more of BlackArachnia's webs to strap small things onto her. Saberwolf shuddered at the feel of the webs, but didn't complain. She grabbed one last bubble wrapped item in her jaws carefully and Sari picked up a few little things. Once they were all ready, they left through a big door to the side of the room. They followed Sari carefully to the gallery. It didn't take long to unload; there were multiple humans about to help.

"Hey Saberwolf, BlackArachnia, would you mind going and getting the last piece? It should be dry now," Bulkhead said.

Saberwolf suppressed a sigh at the thought of having to work with BlackArachnia again, since she still didn't trust her much. She didn't refuse because she didn't want to cause any more tension than there already was. She simply nodded and turned to head back. BlackArachnia followed.

They got to the plant quickly, carefully checked to make sure the paint was dry, then loaded up the latest painting. BlackArachnia carried it. Saberwolf lead the way back towards the gallery, leaping around on rooftops with BlackArachnia.

They were about a third of the way there when Saberwolf noticed they were being followed.

"Hold up," Saberwolf stopped and looked back across the big department store roof. She saw a strange orange bot trying to hide behind a too small maintenance entrance. She rolled her optics and transformed.

"Who the hell are you and why are you following us?" she demanded.

The mech stood and came out from his hiding place. Saberwolf quickly took in and memorized his appearance.

He had a square, orange helm with a bright red antenna sticking out of his left audio receptor. There were dials to the left of his face, which had a paint scheme to imitate a goatee. His shoulders were broad and red. He had large, chrome forearms with two wheels each on them. His chest was made up of the front end of a garbage truck and had a chrome grill overtop the orange chassis. He had red plates over his hips and large orange calves. The rest of him was either chrome or brown, and he seemed to have a giant chrome backpack on. At least Saberwolf assumed it was chrome, but it was very dirty so it could have been just grey metal. And he reeked of rotting fruit, dog poop, and other human waste products. Saberwolf tried not to show her disgust.

"You found me!" said the mech in an overly cheerful voice, "I am WRECK-GAR! I am a THIEF!"

Saberwolf flinched as his yells met her audio receptors.

"You fool! You aren't supposed to announce it!" came a softer voice with a British accent, "I didn't dig you up from that underwater tomb to have you shout out our plans to the Autobots!"

Saberwolf turned around to see a plump little human male dressed in a green tunic and a matching hat standing atop a taller building. He was looking down at the mech called Wreck-Gar with anger.

"But it is no matter," the little man said, pulling out a bow and arrow.

BlackArachnia sighed.

"Wonderful," she said, "Another lunatic."

Saberwolf nodded in agreement.

"What are you supposed to be, huh?" Saberwolf said, crossing her arms, "Some cheap knock off of Robin Hood?"

"I am the Angry Archer!" said the little man, shooting what looked like a toilet plunger with a string attached at BlackArachnia, "And I make Robin Hood look like a child with a shoelace!"

Saberwolf and BlackArachnia snickered at the toilet plunger as it flew through the air.

"Are you serious? You do realize that's a toilet plunger! That won't hurt a fly! Let alone a—" Saberwolf stopped as the plunger hit Bulkhead's painting and stuck.

The Angry Archer tugged on the rope and the painting pulled free of the webs. Saberwolf watched in horror as the painting flew into the Archer's hands and Wreck-Gar jump up to that building. He scooped up the Archer and in the blink of an optic they were gone. Saberwolf's mouth hung slack. BlackArachnia transformed and stared at the building, shoulders slumped forward in disbelief. They exchanged a glance, then transformed and leapt after them.

"What the fuck just happened?" Saberwolf asked.

"Some jackass just made off with Bulkhead's painting in hope to get a quick buck from it?" BlackArachnia suggested, "That's my guess."

"Who the hell was that mech? I've never heard of him before."

"Probably some AllSpark fragment spawn," BlackArachnia said as they moved from building to building, "Between this guy and the Constructicons, I've officially decided that all spawns are annoying little assholes!"

"Here, here!"

Saberwolf picked up the scent of garbage and shifted her direction to follow the trail.

"This way! I can smell the garbage truck!" Saberwolf said.

BlackArachnia followed. Saberwolf jumped down off of the building and turned right down an alley. She located the source of the smell around another corner to her left.

"There!" Saberwolf ran in and transformed, sword at the ready.

BlackArachnia came up behind her and transformed, a ball of web in her hand. Saberwolf scanned the dead end alley and saw nothing. The smell was coming from a dumpster overflowing with waste. BlackArachnia stepped forward and looked around, sighed irritably and discarded her web ball. Then she turned back to Saberwolf with her hands on her hips, glaring.

"Nice job Bloodhound!" BlackArachnia shouted, "You can track down a dumpster."

Saberwolf's faceplates grew hot with anger and embarrassment.

"You try tracking down a garbage truck in a city with thousands of dumpsters and trashcans!" Saberwolf retorted.

BlackArachnia's look softened.

"Point taken," she said, "Oh shit! We have to get that painting to the gallery before nightfall."

Saberwolf looked up at the position of the sun. Her optics flew wide in alarm.

"That's only two mega-cycles from now!" she said, "They could be anywhere! How are we supposed to search the entire city in two mega-cycles?"

"I don't fuckin' know!" BlackArachnia shouted.

"I wasn't asking you!"

"Who were you asking then? The dumpster?" BlackArachnia said angrily.

Saberwolf shook her head.

"Never mind!"

They were silent for a moment, the air crackling with tension. Saberwolf cycled some air to calm down. BlackArachnia huffed and crossed her arms.

"So what now?" she asked.

Saberwolf shook her head in exasperation.

"I don't know!" Saberwolf sat down and leaned against a building to her right, putting her head in her hands, "I don't know…"

BlackArachnia took up a thinking stance. After a few moments she snapped her fingers together.

"That's it!" she said with a smile.

Saberwolf looked at her in confusion.

"What's it?"

"If you had a painting of potentially high value, what would you do with it?" BlackArachnia prompted.

"I don't know… Pawn it off?" Saberwolf said with a shrug.

"There's only one pawn shop in this town," BlackArachnia said, "That would sell to a known criminal."

Saberwolf grinned.

"I assume you know where this shop is," Saberwolf said.

"You assume correctly," BlackArachnia said, "I recognize our little criminal in tights from the data files on Teletraan 1. He's a well known thief and no other shop would be dumb enough to buy something from him."

"Well what are we standing around for then?" Saberwolf said.

She transformed and looked up at BlackArachnia.

"Lead the way Arachnia," she said.

BlackArachnia smirked and transformed.

"Try to keep up, Wolf."

"You say that like it's hard."

BlackArachnia crawled up the building quickly. More quickly than Saberwolf expected. She ran alongside the building, following the sound of BlackArachnia's footsteps, until she reached a shorter one to use as a step. She leapt up quickly to BlackArachnia's level and kept an even pace with her.

"Good! Now lets really move!" BlackArachnia said.

She then started doing the spider equivalent of a sprint. She moved a lot faster than Saberwolf had guessed she could. Saberwolf put on a doggish grin and raced after her.

They reached the pawn shop in about mega-cycle, having to travel all the way across the city to get there. When they reached it, they saw The Angry Archer inspecting the painting and Wreck-Gar twiddling his thumbs, both behind the pawn shop. Saberwolf and BlackArachnia paused on a neighboring roof top to figure out a plan.

"How much do you think we could get for this Wreck-Gar?" The Angry Archer's voice carried up to Saberwolf's audio receptors, much to her displeasure.

"Umm… I don't know," Wreck-Gar said, scratching his helm thoughtfully.

BlackArachnia narrowed her optics.

"Alright, do you want to take the mech or the human?" BlackArachnia asked quietly.

"The mech please. I want some bit of a challenge," Saberwolf whispered.

"Show off…" BlackArachnia scoffed, "Fine. I'll go around the front and wait for the archer to try to enter the shop. Once he goes around the corner, take out Wreck-Gar quietly."

"Sounds like fun," Saberwolf said, imagining the different ways she could do so.

BlackArachnia narrowed her optics at her.

"What?"

"Knock him unconscious, not dead," BlackArachnia said firmly.

"I'm not going to kill him!" Saberwolf whispered defensively.

BlackArachnia just shook her head and returned to watching the pair down below. The Archer was carrying the painting around the corner and Wreck-Gar was waving to him. Saberwolf stood and jumped down, landing softly as BlackArachnia jumped quietly onto the roof of the pawn shop. Saberwolf crept up behind Wreck-Gar and readied to knock him unconscious as she had with Sentinel four stellar-cycles ago. But as she got close enough to strike, she caught a whiff of Wreck-Gar's backpack. She made a gagging noise in disgust.

"Huh?" Wreck-Gar turned around.

_Fuck my life._

"Hello! I am WRECK—"

"Shhh!" Saberwolf cut him off.

To her amazement, Wreck-Gar actually listened.

"I am Wreck-Gar! I am a thief!" he said in a hushed tone.

Saberwolf listened to hear if the Archer had heard. He was still walking around the perimeter of the large shop. Saberwolf sighed in relief. She transformed and looked at Wreck-Gar. He had an innocent look in his optics, as if he thought what he was doing was the right thing to do. Saberwolf suddenly didn't have the spark to knock him unconscious.

_He's like a sparkling… Maybe not all spawns are bad…_

"Why would you want to be a thief, Wreck-Gar?" Saberwolf asked quietly, "Don't you know that thievery is wrong?"

"Wrong?" Wreck-Gar's voice got louder as he looked at Saberwolf in horror.

"Shhh! Keep your voice down!" Saberwolf whispered urgently

"Being a thief is wrong?" Wreck-Gar asked quietly, optics full of concern.

"Yes. It's very wrong. You and that man you're traveling with took something that wasn't yours," Saberwolf said, putting a hand on Wreck-Gar's shoulder "And that makes the people you took it from either very angry, or very sad, or both. It can get you into a lot of trouble."

"Oh dear," Wreck-Gar said.

Saberwolf tried not to cringe at Wreck-Gar's stench.

"Oh dear indeed," she said, "Now, if you promise not to help that criminal trying to make you do bad things, I will let you go free. I won't have to hurt you. Or better yet, you could help us contain him and you could be recognized as… oh I don't know, a hero or something."

"Hero?" Wreck-Gar's optics lit up with recognition at the word, "I… I am a hero!"

"Yes, you will be," Saberwolf said, forcing a smile rather than a look of disgust.

The smell of garbage was very strong.

"I am a hero! I remember why I was at the bottom of the lake now! I saved the city from trash!" Wreck-Gar said excitedly.

Saberwolf felt confused at the statement, but she decided just to go with it rather than question it.

"Okay. Now you can help save the city from a thief," Saberwolf said.

"Alright!" Wreck-Gar said with excitement.

"Okay, now follow me and don't do anything else unless I tell you," Saberwolf said.

She heard BlackArachnia shoot a web, then a string of curses coming from the Archer. She ran jumped up onto the roof of the building and crossed it, jumping down again in front of it. She saw BlackArachnia holding The Angry Archer, tied up in webs, in one hand and the painting in another. BlackArachnia looked up at Saberwolf, then past her to Wreck-Gar.

"I thought you were going to knock him out," she said, looking annoyed.

"He had a change of spark," Saberwolf said.

"I'm Wreck-Gar! I'm a HERO!" Wreck Gar said, pulling an Autobot sticker out of his backpack, pulling a rotten banana peel off of it, and sticking it to his chest.

BlackArachnia and Saberwolf cringed in disgust.

"I want to help!" Wreck-Gar said.

"Great! You can carry the painting," BlackArachnia said, handing it to Saberwolf to give to him.

She covered her nose as Wreck-Gar's stench met her nostrils.

"But we have to clean you up first. You smell like a donkey's ass!" BlackArachnia said.

Saberwolf laughed. Wreck-Gar just stood there looking confused.

They walked over to a fire hydrant. Saberwolf flicked off the cap. Water burst out of it. Wreck-Gar washed out his backpack and cleaned his chassis. After a few cycles he looked much cleaner and smelled like a normal mech. Saberwolf put the painting carefully into his backpack after it dried out completely. They left the Archer tied up to a light pole by the police station, a string of curses following them as they left.

Another thirty cycles and they approached the gallery. The rest of the team looked at them in relief when they showed up.

"Took ya long enough!" Sari and Bumblebee chimed in unison.

The trio transformed and Wreck-Gar walked up to Bulkhead, carefully handing him the painting just as Saberwolf had told him to on their journey here.

"Where did you find this idiot?" Ratchet asked irritably.

"Hello friend!" Wreck-Gar said.

"Er…" Saberwolf looked over at BlackArachnia.

BlackArachnia briefly summarized the events that occurred, twisting the facts around how the Archer got a hold of the painting so she and Saberwolf didn't look a fool.

"I didn't atta—"

Saberwolf patted Wreck-Gar on the back, letting some energy flow through her hand to burn him a little.

"It's okay Wreck-Gar, we forgive you," Saberwolf said with a smile.

Wreck-Gar flinched and gave her a confused look, but just mumbled "okay" and didn't say anything else. Bulkhead gave the painting to some of the humans at the gallery.

"Well, that does it!" Bulkhead said.

"Autobots," Optimus said, "let's go home."

He looked at Wreck-Gar.

"Uh… You can come with us if you'd like, Wreck-Gar," he said.

"Really?" Wreck-Gar said excitedly.

"Sure."

Arcee walked up to Optimus's side. Saberwolf saw BlackArachnia flinch at the thin lines where Ratchet had welded on more plating.

_That could have been her if she hadn't dodged Masterson's blast…_

Arcee had healed well, considering the attack was only five solar-cycles ago.

"Maybe he could go to boot camp and become an Autobot," she suggested.

Wreck-Gar's optics lit up.

"Can I?" he asked excitedly.

"That sounds like a great idea! Let the Drill Instructors deal with him!" Ratchet said.

"Bumblebee and I will accompany him to Cybertron," Sari piped up, "We'll take the Space Bridge."

"I don't think it would go over well with just you two," Optimus said.

"I'll go with them," Arcee said.

"I'll go with you," Ratchet said, stepping up to her side.

Optimus looked over the five bots.

"Alright. I'll head over to Dinobot Island and call Cliffjumper so he knows your coming," Optimus said, "BlackArachnia, you can come with me. Bulkhead you go with the others to operate the spacebridge. Saberwolf…"

Optimus looked at her.

"I'll just go back to the plant. I could use some recharge," Saberwolf said.

Optimus nodded.

"Transform and roll out!"

* * *

Saberwolf smiled when she saw Prowl's blue form sitting cross-legged in the center of the clearing.

"Hello Saberwolf," he said.

Saberwolf's spark skipped when he spoke.

"H-how'd you know I was here?" Saberwolf asked.

"I can sense your presence," Prowl said.

Saberwolf smiled.

"Will you teach me that?"

"In time. But first, we'll have a sparring match."

Prowl jumped up and flew at her. Saberwolf's optics widened in shock. She was frozen in place and Prowl's foot landed on her chest, knocking her onto her back.

"Ow! What the hell was—"

Saberwolf was cut off by Prowl's fist coming at her. She dodged and swung her leg to trip him. He dodged and struck out at her with his foot. Saberwolf dodged.

For about five more cycles this continued. Saberwolf dodged a few of Prowl's attacks, but most hit her. Prowl dodged every one of her attempts to make contact with his cold chassis. Finally, Saberwolf pulled out her sword and swung. Prowl dodged and leapt at her, knocking her down and pinning her hand hold the sword down by her wrist. He hovered over her, his face close. The air became very cold all around them. Saberwolf shivered. Then she noticed his optics weren't open.

"You've been fighting me with your optics closed?" Saberwolf said in disbelief.

"Evaluating."

Saberwolf became very aware of their position right now.

"Er… Prowl, could you let me up now?" she asked.

Prowl opened his optics. He hesitated for a moment, Saberwolf's pulse increasing in speed the longer it stretched on. Then Prowl got up and offered Saberwolf an icy hand. Saberwolf took it. Prowl helped her up.

"Thanks."

Prowl nodded, then turned and started putting a torn up bit of ground back into place. Suddenly, Saberwolf was hit with an idea. She leaned down and brushed some dirt off of her shin. As she stood, she struck out at Prowl with her sword. Prowl spun to the outside of Saberwolf and grabbed her wrist firmly.

_Fuck!_

Saberwolf braced herself to be thrown or flipped onto her back. But instead Prowl pulled her closer and gave her an amused smirk. His grip on her wrist softened. Saberwolf's spark skipped a beat.

"Good idea," Prowl said, "But a surprise attack would be expected by any Cyber ninja."

Saberwolf didn't know whether she was supposed to respond or not, so she just nodded.

"Evaluation is over," Prowl said, "First things first, give me all of your weapons."

He let her wrist go, taking her sword. Saberwolf looked at him with disbelief. He chuckled.

"You'll get them back for the day," Prowl said, "But for our lessons, you will go without. Until I say so."

"Why?" Saberwolf asked.

Prowl's look became more serious.

"Because it is the bot, not the weapons, that matters."

Saberwolf was about to protest, but then she thought about what he said.

_Well, that makes sense._

Saberwolf nodded and put all her other weapons and tools in her storage cube. She handed it to Prowl and then showed him her power.

"Can't really remove my arms," Saberwolf said.

Prowl looked at her lit up arm with intrigue.

"Fascinating," he said, "You'll have to refrain from using your power until I've figured out how to incorporate them into your training."

Saberwolf nodded.

"Now, let's begin."


	16. Chapter 16

_**This is one of the few, and maybe the only chapter that will be in two parts. I would make it one, but then it would be very, very long. I hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 16: Fire and Fragments (Part 1)**

Saberwolf sighed as she faced her mural. This was the third time she'd had to restart it. She just couldn't figure out what to paint. She put the supplies aside in aggravation and walked over to her dresser. She rearranged the things she had on display on top of it. She stepped to the window and opened it, washing the stale air out of the room. She walked to the center of her room and crossed her arms over her chassis.

_I'm so bored!_

They're hadn't been any activity in the city in days. The human threat level was dwindling since Masterson's defeat. Apparently villains were now afraid of BlackArachnia. Saberwolf didn't blame them.

Besides, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for nothing bad happening. It was just boring. The past few days had been filled with walks in the park, cleaning up the base, playing games with Sari, Bumblebee, and Bulkhead, and just lounging around. The nights brought lessons with Prowl. They were the only things she looked forward to recently.

Saberwolf sat down cross-legged and pulled her storage cube from the pouch on her left hip. She decided she'd sort through and count the contents.

She had three energy shield generators, five smokescreens, two flash-bang grenades, extra shuriken, ammo for her pistol, her special multi-tool, and a crimson cape. Saberwolf put everything but the cape back. She unfolded it and spread it out over her lap. She ran her hand over it carefully, amazed as she always was by the softness of it.

It was a cape from Quintessa, woven from thread-like wires. It was long and rectangular, and the round clasp at one end, meant to hold the cape in place when worn, was currently gold. Saberwolf picked up the clasp and put pressure on the center. The clasp opened up and revealed some buttons and a small screen. Saberwolf used the buttons to scroll through color and design options, watching the cape change as she did so. It was colored with an electric paintjob, just as her plating was, and the control panel in the clasp was programmed with a large variety of colors and patterns. The cape had been crimson with a gold Autobot symbol. Saberwolf scrolled through a few more options before deciding to put it back.

_I'll leave it just how Mother left it…_

Saberwolf blinked and a memory flashed into her head.

* * *

_Saberwolf walked to her room in somber silence. She turned to look at the two Autobots that had brought her home. One of them was glaring at her, four long, singed scratches down one of his arms. Saberwolf narrowed her optics back at him, though she knew he couldn't see it. She turned forward again._

I don't care how much ya glare at me. I won't say sorry! Besides, I didn't even know I could do that!

_She knew she should feel sorry for hurting an innocent bot. But she didn't. Not after what that bot had told her._

_ "Your mother and father won't be coming home…"_

_His voice echoed in her head as she walked through her door. She grabbed the things she cared about most and put them in the storage cube she'd been given. She walked out of her room and saw more Autobots coming into her housing unit. Her optics widened in horror as she saw them start going through her parents' things, putting stuff in cubes._

_ "What are you doing?" she yelled furiously, "How dare you take my parents' things? Put it all back right now!"_

_Most of the bots didn't look up at her. One gave her a sympathetic look and then looked over at the two Autobots by the door. The one she hadn't scratched walked over to her and squatted so his optics were at the same level as hers._

_ "There might be something useful that they hid around the house. Things about their mission that we need. Since they won't be returning to tell us about any of it, we have to check everything. We'll even be checking your stuff when we get back to H.Q." the mech said, "Nothing will be damaged. It will all be okay, sweetie."_

_Saberwolf narrowed her optics in anger. She stuffed the storage cube into her hip pocket._

_ "Don't call me sweetie! Only Mommy can call me sweetie!" she screamed._

_She felt energy along with her anger. She let the energy focus in her hand and watched as it glowed blue. She swung at his face and ran past him to her parents' room. She heard the sizzle as his faceplates were burned and heard his scream of pain but she didn't care. She lashed out at the Autobots in her parent's room, screaming at them all and throwing things until they all left the room. She locked the door and ran into the small storage closet on the other side of the room. She pulled a white box off the shelf and opened it, revealing a folded red cape._

They won't get their hands on this! Never!

_Saberwolf took off the locket her father had given her before he and her mother left and tucked it inside the cape._

Not this either! They'll never get my parents' most favorite things in the whole universe besides me! They won't!

_Saberwolf found a storage cube on the floor and picked it up. She emptied it of the contents it held and stuffed the cape and locket in. She put it deeper in her pocket and swore to never take it out around the Autobots._

Mommy's cape and Daddy's locket are mine! At least, until they come back… Because I don't care what that bad mech says! Mommy and Daddy will come back! They're not dead! The Autobots are mistaken! They'll come back!

_Saberwolf hid in the deep part of the closet and hugged her knees to her chest. She trembled with fear and sadness. She could hear the Autobots calling to her to open the door._

_"Find your own way in! That's what you get for telling lies!" she screamed._

My parents will come back! They will!

_ "They promised…" Saberwolf finished the thought out loud._

_She buried her head in her knees and tried to block out the universe._

* * *

Saberwolf blinked the memory back. She forced the grief away and hugged the cape closer. She could still detect her mother's scent on it. It was extremely faint, and perhaps it was her mind playing tricks, but it was there. She decided she wanted the cape out in the open. It comforted her. She found some pins on the dresser and pinned it like a curtain over the window. The light filtered through it like it would any other fabric. It darkened the room considerably, so Saberwolf took it down, put it back in the storage cube, and left to find a piece of metal to bend into a hook. She'd bolt the hook to the wall and use it to hold the cape out of the way during daylight hours. She'd let it fall over the window at night.

As she walked into the living room area, she noticed everyone was crowded around the T.V. She could hear a news broadcast on. She joined the others around and saw what it was they were so enthralled in.

"…One of the oldest buildings in the historic district, and still has its original wooden framework. This appears to be its undoing as the fire spreads quicker along it," a tall blonde human femme was reporting, "The firefighters are working as fast as they can to get everybody out of the unstable building. There's a lot of rubble falling off of it, causing issues with anyone getting in too close to the windows…"

Saberwolf watched the scene behind the reporter in horror, realizing why the others hadn't been able to tear their optics away. The building was engulfed in flames, several pillars of smoke combining into one massive cloud. She watched as a firefighter got crushed by falling rubble as he tried to spray a window with water.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! One of the firefighters just got crushed by... Phil, turn the camera off! They don't need to see this!" the reporter was losing her composure as the scene got worse and worse.

Saberwolf stepped away from the T.V. She noticed the others were still glued to it in horrified awe. Saberwolf had had issues breaking away herself. The power of the fire was awesome. Terribly awesome.

"What the hell are we still standing around here for!" she yelled.

It snapped their attention away from the T.V. They were still in shock. Optimus recovered first and turned off the news broadcast.

"Saberwolf's right. We have to go help as much as we can," he said, "Transform and roll out!"

When they got to the scene Saberwolf had to struggle not to sneeze or cough at the smell of smoke. It was strong enough to suffocate. Sari stepped out of Bumblebee and transformed into her bot mode at once. Everyone transformed and looked at the scene in horror. There were several ambulances, but they had to be parked far away because of the falling rubble, so a lot of ash covered humans were struggling to get to them. The roar of the fire was deafening. Saberwolf saw BlackArachnia cough a little. The others looked back at her but she waved them off.

"I'm alright," she said.

Saberwolf could see she was suppressing more coughs.

_Alright my ass…_

Saberwolf decided to keep an optic on her.

"Alright! The Autobots are here!" shouted one of the humans on the street.

As if it was their cue, the Autobots snapped out of their shock and rushed to help. Saberwolf pulled out her sword and sliced a bit of falling rubble to pieces before it could crush another human. Arcee pulled out her blades and did the same. Ratchet was using his magnetic field to grab falling debris and get humans safely out of high up windows. Optimus was spraying fire extinguisher foam over places the firefighters were having issues getting. BlackArachnia was weaving masks for humans that escaped the building and had made one for herself to filter the smoke. She tried to help humans out of the windows, but they were hesitant.

_Apparently bad guys aren't the only ones that fear her…_

Saberwolf was helping a family out of their fifth story window when she heard a large piece of building break off from the corner. It was going to fall on a group of teens that had stopped to watch and got too close. Saberwolf couldn't move to help them because she was in the middle of helping a little girl out a window.

"Look out!" she shouted to the teens.

They were frozen in place be fear. Saberwolf was prepared to see them get crushed, but big web shot out at the rubble. Saberwolf watched as BlackArachnia jumped into view and quickly moved and tied the big chunk of the building up to a sturdy one across the street. She pulled tightly on the knot to make sure it didn't fall out of the net she'd made. Then she turned around to the teens.

"Get the hell out of here! Can't you see it's not safe?" BlackArachnia shouted angrily, "We don't have the luxury of looking after a bunch of sniveling brats looking for the next thing to gossip about on the internet!"

The teens were shaken from their scared stupor and they ran away quickly. BlackArachnia looked up at Saberwolf, anger and annoyance in her optics. Saberwolf smirked and went back to work.

_Nice move…_

Even with the Autobots' help, the sky was darkening by the time the last firefighter stepped out of the building helping a woman covered in ashes. Her face was tear-streaked and she could barely stumble along.

"That's the last one. I didn't find anyone else alive," the firefighter said to Captain Fanzone, who Saberwolf just noticed.

"Good thing too! That building's comin' down any second!" Fanzone said.

Saberwolf watched as they moved the lady to an ambulance. As they put the breathing apparatus over her mouth and nose, her eyes shot open and she began to struggle. The EMT tried to calm her but failed. They woman ripped the breathing apparatus off and looked around frantically.

"Kari! Kari! Where's my Kari! My baby! My baby girl!" the woman clung to one of the firefighters, voice hoarse, "Where did you put her! She was in the room next to me!"

The firefighter looked shocked.

"The room next to you was blocked by a wall of flames!" he exclaimed.

"No! NO! GO GET HERE OUT!" the woman screamed.

"The building's coming down any second! I'm sorry ma'am, but the chances of your daughter being—"

"SHUT UP! SHE"S IN THERE! GO GET HER!" the woman started sobbing uncontrollably.

Saberwolf, who'd transformed into wolf mode earlier, turned away, unable to watch the woman grieving. The Autobots all lowered their heads.

Then Saberwolf heard a faint cry.

"Mommy!"

Saberwolf felt a twinge in her spark. She turned to the building and pointed her ears towards it.

"Mommy!" the little child's voice was barely audible over the roaring fire.

Saberwolf shifted her paws anxiously.

"She's in there," she said.

"What?" Fanzone asked disbelievingly.

"I can hear her," Saberwolf said.

Optimus, who knew of her keen senses from their conversation with Sentinel at graduation, looked up with hope.

"Where is she?" he asked.

Saberwolf strained to hear over the fire. She closed her eyes and tried to feel her movements through the ground. After a few moments, she had her.

"She's in one of the ground apartments in the back," Saberwolf said.

The faces around her fell.

"We'll never be able to get to her in time. That building's coming down any second!" Fanzone said angrily, kicking the fender of his car.

Saberwolf heard the girl whimpering. She felt another twinge in her spark.

"I can get her…" she though out loud.

"No way! Even we would have a hell of a time under all that rubble! Bulkhead would be better outfitted for it," Ratchet said.

"I'd just knock the building down faster," Bulkhead said, "And I can't fit under the first level."

"I can! In this mode anyway," Saberwolf said.

She looked up at Optimus, since he would have the final say.

"I'm not taking no for an answer," she said.

Optimus looked at her, then to the building, then back. He had a thoughtful look.

"You know exactly where she is?" he asked.

"Exactly."

"You're absolutely sure you can get to her?"

"One hundred percent."

"You can do it quick?"

"Definitely."

Optimus looked over at the woman in hysterics. He looked at the burning building again with a pained expression. Then he nodded.

"You can't be serious!" Ratchet protested.

Saberwolf ignored the protests behind her and walked towards the building.

"Hold up!" BlackArachnia shouted.

Saberwolf looked back to see her running up with a string of web ready. She tied it around Saberwolf.

"In case we have to pull you out," she said.

Saberwolf saw that her body was rigid with holding back coughs.

"Just cough! You need to get the smoke out," Saberwolf said.

She thanked her for the web, then dashed into the building.

The roar inside the building was a lot louder than outside. There was more smoke and the air was scalding and stuffy. Saberwolf picked her way carefully through the ruined apartment building. She knew exactly where she was going and made it to the doorway quickly. She saw what the firefighter had been talking about. A wall of flames barred the path.

"Kari?" Saberwolf had to shout to be heard over the fire.

"Mommy?" the weak voice of the little girl met Saberwolf's ears.

She was on the other side of the fire wall. Saberwolf activated her communicator and opened up the frequency so all the Autobots could hear.

"Found her," she said.

"Great, now get her and get out!" Ratchet demanded, "I don't wanna have to dig you out of there!"

"Yeah, yeah. Be out in a minute," Saberwolf said.

She jumped through the wall if flames, stomach blackening from the heat. She flinched as she got burnt, but landed cleanly and found a little girl covered in ashes and coughing badly sitting in the corner. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and was hiding her face in them, sobbing. Saberwolf's felt another twinge. She imagined the girl was herself as a young bot, scared, hiding, and wishing to be with her mother and father.

_I won't let another family be separated…_

"Kari!" Saberwolf yelled over the roaring fire.

The little girl looked up.

"Puppy…" she said weakly.

"Sure," Saberwolf said, "I'm gonna get you out of here, back to your mommy, okay?"

Kari nodded.

"Okay," Saberwolf said.

She transformed and knelt so she wouldn't bust through the low roof. Kari flinched.

"It's okay, I'm and Autobot, see?" Saberwolf motioned to the symbols on her left shoulder and her chest, "I'm gonna get you out of here. You're gonna be okay."

Kari nodded. Saberwolf pulled out her storage cube and pulled her mother's cape out. She put the storage cube away and tied the cape in such a way that it formed a little sack. Saberwolf transformed.

"Okay Kari, I want you to stay low and crawl over into this okay? So I can carry you. It will help keep the smoke out too," Saberwolf said.

Kari nodded and crawled over. She curled up on her side inside the little sack. Saberwolf stuck her head and front left leg through the loop. It pulled Kari close to her chest and she snuggled closer, whimpering. Saberwolf said some soothing words, then turned back towards the fire wall.

_The cape won't protect her from that heat…_

Saberwolf thought for a moment, then figured out what to do.

She crouched low, making sure not to squish Kari, and tensed her body for a jump. She sprung forward and twisted mid-jump so she was upside down as she went through the flames. She flinched as her back was burned the way her belly did earlier. But Kari wasn't touched by a flame and as soon as they were clear, Saberwolf flipped back around and landed on her feet. She shook herself gently to try to rid some of the heat from her back. It helped a little, and Saberwolf ignored the rest as she followed the web trail back out of the building, amazed at how fire resistant it was. Before she reached the place she'd entered, she heard another shout from inside the building. She stopped and listened and heard a man's voice calling for help. She whined a little and stepped that way. Kari's whimper made her turn back. She kept going.

_I'll come back for you, I promise…_

She was greeted by applause when she got out into the open air. She cycled the cleaner, cooler air and walked over to the ambulance Kari's mom was in. She removed the little sack as BlackArachnia removed the web. Kari scrambled out and ran to her mother, who embraced her with a smile, joyful tears streaming from her eyes now.

"My baby! My baby! You're safe!" she said happily.

Saberwolf saw the EMTs ready to take care of the two humans and was sure they'd be fine. She put the sack back on and dashed back into the building without even looking at Optimus or the others.

_I have to go back… They'd never let me…_

"Saberwolf! Get back here!" Optimus called.

Saberwolf ignored him.

"Saberwolf, that's… that's an order!" Optimus shouted.

Saberwolf paused just before entering the building. She looked back at Optimus and saw the pained look on his face. She got the feeling he wouldn't be ordering her if he didn't think he had to. Saberwolf sighed.

"That's an order I have to disobey," Saberwolf said.

She turned back towards the unstable building and charged in. The team started yelling at her through the communicator, but she ignored them. She ran directly to where the man was calling from. She walked through a doorway and saw the man in a corner. He was a firefighter, wearing all the heavy gear and he had his leg pinned under a burning piece of wood. Saberwolf flinched at what that must feel like. She ran over to the man.

"Great! An Autobot," the man paused to cough, "I came in after the girl…"

Saberwolf nodded and grabbed the piece of wood. It burned her as she moved it off of his foot and threw it across the room, but she didn't flinch. She was used to it now.

"I don't need an explanation. I just need to get you out of here quickly!" Saberwolf said.

She took off her cape carrier and let the man climb in. She put it back on and turned to run out. She dashed forward but had to stop short to avoid a falling piece of falling rubble. She realized something was happening and tuned back in to her communicator.

"…COMING DOWN! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" Ratchet was shouting.

Saberwolf felt the heavy vibrations of the debris falling and panicked. The way forward was completely blocked. She turned to find the back way blocked too. Saberwolf looked up and saw a big piece of the building headed straight for her. She dodged out of the way. She looked in all directions and saw no way out.

"What's your name?" she asked the man.

He coughed a bit before answering.

"Spike."

"Well Spike, this is going to be an uncomfortable night!"

Saberwolf dodged another bit of rubble. She knew there was no way out, so she curled her body around Spike and braced herself for a lot of pain.


	17. Chapter 17

**_here's part two. enjoy! _**

**_disclaimer: Hasbro owns transformers._**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Fire and Fragments (Part 2)**

The bombardment lasted five cycles. Saberwolf had screamed several times because of the pain. Now the screams had faded to occasional moans and trembling.

The rubble was heavy and it surrounded them completely. Some of it had slipped through her curled up limbs. Saberwolf was near unconsciousness, and was wishing she'd already been knocked out. She was feeling very claustrophobic and the pain was immense. She moved her head a bit and thought of digging herself out. She remembered Spike and realized he'd never survive that.

_Great… Gotta stay put…_

"Spike…" her words came out difficultly.

Saberwolf felt a body shift around by her chest. Soon Spike had moved out of the little pouch he was in and was sheltering under her front leg. He coughed and Saberwolf felt him lean up against her chest.

"I'm okay," he said hoarsely.

"Good… You're the reason we're in this mess…" Saberwolf said.

"I was just tryin to be a hero… No one asked you to come after me," Spike retorted.

Saberwolf opened her optics. She moved her head so she could see him. It was dark, but her glowing optics cast enough light for her to make out his body. She realized one of the protective covers over her optics was cracked.

_Great…_

"You're right… No one asked me. In fact I was directly ordered not to go back in," Saberwolf said, "But I would never be able to live with myself if I left someone in here knowingly."

"That's how I felt about the girl. Only I didn't find her…"

"I did. She's safe. I found her before I found you. I heard you calling for help as I carried her out. Got her to safety and turned back around for you," Saberwolf said.

"Well, thanks… wouldn't be alive if you hadn't," Spike said.

He coughed some more.

"Yeah, well we're both screwed if the others don't dig us out soon," Saberwolf said.

She felt something stuck into her side and fluid leaking out. She knew Spike could die from all the smoke in his lungs if not treated in time.

"Question," Saberwolf said, "Why aren't you wearing your mask?"

Saberwolf had seen other firefighters wearing masks. Spike wasn't.

"Took it off to call out to the girl. Then the timber landed on my leg and I fell. I flailed around and accidently threw it across the room," Spike said, sounding embarrassed.

"Nice one."

Spike coughed.

Saberwolf sighed.

"Well, no more talking for you… You need to focus on breathing," she said, "Even if the air isn't very clean…"

"Yeah, I know…"

Saberwolf closed her optics.

_Now we just have to wait…_

* * *

BlackArachnia watched in disbelief as the dust settled. The mass of falling debris and the firefighters' hoses snuffed out the remaining flames. The whole crowd was looking at the pile of rubble with horrified looks. Even Kari, the little girl Saberwolf had saved was silent and looked sad. Ratchet's mouth hung open with the last of his shout. The rest of the team was wide eyed.

"No…" Optimus said softly.

BlackArachnia crossed to him and took his hand in hers. She knew he must feel responsible.

_First Prowl, then me, almost, now this…_

Sari was the first to recover from the shock. She stepped forward and looked over the rubble critically.

"I can still pick up her spark signature…" she said slowly.

She turned around and looked at the team with hope in her optics.

"Guys! I can still pick up her spark signature!" she shouted.

The others shook themselves and came out of shock.

"She's right!" Bumblebee said happily, "I'm picking it up too!"

"Me too!" Bulkhead said.

Optimus's face brightened. BlackArachnia smiled.

"Then we need to dig her out!" she said.

Everyone nodded and got to work immediately.

_Hang in there Saberwolf… I'll kill you if you die!_

* * *

Saberwolf moaned again. She felt her energy leaking out with the fluid. She tried to stay online, but unconsciousness had a firm hold. She knew she couldn't fight it much longer.

"Spike…"

"I thought you said no talking," Spike said.

"Just listen… I'm not feeling well… I think I might pass out," Saberwolf said.

She had to pause. Speaking was getting more difficult as time stretched on.

"If I do… don't… don't worry… I'll be fine…"

"You sure?"

Saberwolf couldn't answer. Darkness was blotting out her vision. She didn't have anymore energy to fight it anymore.

"I'll be fffine…" the words managed to slip out as the darkness took her.

* * *

BlackArachnia worked quickly but carefully. They knew exactly where Saberwolf's body was. Ratchet said her signal was growing fainter by the minute, so everyone was focus on the section she was under. They'd clear the rest of the rubble later.

So far they'd gotten halfway through the pile. BlackArachnia hoped they'd find Saberwolf soon. They weren't exactly friends, but that was exactly why BlackArachnia wanted to get her out. She didn't want things to be left like this. She wanted to be friends with Saberwolf. She wanted her to see she'd left her Decepticon life behind. And she wanted to crack Saberwolf's shell and find out what was underneath. She had a feeling they'd be good friends if they could just get to know each other.

So she worked hard to clear the rubble. She seemed to shock the others by how intently she was working. She didn't know how to explain it to anyone but Optimus, so she just ignored the looks they were giving her.

She had just moved a large piece of concrete when a long, loud scream echoed around the area. BlackArachnia covered her audio receptors until it was over. Then she looked around frantically to see what had happened. Everyone was doing the same thing. Then there was confusion. No one seemed to be hurt, so everyone looked at the pile.

_Was that Saberwolf?_

"I-I don't know what happened!" Bumblebee stammered.

He was holding a long piece of timber. It was sharp on both ends. BlackArachnia narrowed her optics and looked at one end. It was stabbed through a piece of gold metal with wires attached to it.

"What's that?" she asked, pointing at it.

Bumblebee looked confused.

"Uhh… a big piece of wood," he said.

BlackArachnia glared at him.

"Not that, bolts for brains!" she snapped, "That!"

She walked over and pulled the piece of metal off of the wood. She looked at it more closely and felt her stomach drop. It was Cybertronian metal plating.

"Umm… Ratchet, can you come look at this?" she asked.

Ratchet rushed over. He examined the piece of metal and his optics filled with worry and urgency.

"That's not good," Ratchet said, "We need to get her out of there now! Right now!"

The Autobots looked at the piece of metal and their optics widened. They set to work quickly. BlackArachnia transformed so she could make use of her two extra limbs.

* * *

Saberwolf had been drifting in and out of consciousness. She'd felt the vibrations through the ground as the team dug her out. She'd also felt the thing in her side moving. She'd tried to shout through the rubble to leave it, but she couldn't form words. When it was pulled out, she felt wires snap and a colossal amount of pain. She couldn't control the scream. Spike shifted uncomfortably and, when she stopped screaming, asked what was wrong. Saberwolf couldn't answer. She fell into a permanent unconsciousness just after he asked.

* * *

After another twenty minutes BlackArachnia could see a bit of pitch black metal.

_Gotcha!_

Soon enough they had cleared all the rubble away from Saberwolf's body. BlackArachnia, and several others, gasped and looked at her body in horror.

She was covered head-to-tail with dents and scrapes. There were long gray scratches all over and one of her ears was completely gone and the other bent. Her left optic was cracked, both were offline, and the tip of her tail was bent. She was curled up awkwardly, as if encasing something. She had a large hole in her side that was leaking heavily and had wires sticking out and sparking. Her back was burnt and the gold plating blackened. She looked like something Grimlock torched, chewed up, then spit back out and left behind.

Ratchet knelt carefully beside her and checked her vitals.

"She's still online, just unconscious. We need to move her, carefully," he said.

Bulkhead transformed and opened up his rear door so they could load her up. Ratchet went to lift her but stopped and looked closely under her front leg.

"What the…?" he reached in and pulled out a human male, laying him out carefully in his palms.

The man was dressed in firefighter gear and was covered in ashes and dust. His left foot was badly burnt and his ankle was swollen badly. At first he lay still, and BlackArachnia was sure he was dead. But then he coughed and moaned, then moved a little. Ratchet carried him over to on of the ambulances that were still there.

"So this is who she went in after," he said.

"Spike!" one of the firefighters shouted with relief.

"The wolf… She said she'd be fine…" the man said.

Ratchet set him in the ambulance carefully.

"She will be. I promise," he said.

BlackArachnia turned back to Saberwolf and saw Optimus loading her up into Bulkhead. Arcee was helping. BlackArachnia walked over to Optimus. He had a worried look on his face.

"Ratchet says she'll be fine," she said, placing a hand comfortingly on his shoulder, "This won't be another tragedy."

Optimus took her hand in his. He looked at her gratefully.

"I know. Ratchet's an excellent medic," he said.

Captain Fanzone walked up to them.

"Take your bot home and get 'er fixed up. We'll take care of things here," he said.

"Thank you Captain," Optimus said.

He waited for Ratchet to come back over.

"Transform and roll out!"

* * *

Saberwolf opened her optics and blinked at the bright light.

_Bright light? …No! Not the Well! I can't be dead!_

Her eyes adjusted and she recognized the medi-lab at the plant. She sighed in relief.

_Okay. Medi-lab is fine._

She realized she was lying down and sat up. She felt a dull pain in her side.

"Ow…"

She looked around and found the medi-lab empty, noting that her optic covering was fixed.

_That's strange… Ratchet should be in here. He usually is when he has a patient._

The door opened just then. Arcee walked in. She saw Saberwolf sitting up and smiled.

"Oh good! You're awake," she said, "Ratchet will be pleased when he wakes up."

Saberwolf cocked her head.

"He tried to stay up and keep and eye on you, but we all had a long day and he couldn't. I just had Bulkhead carry him to our room. He was dead to the world," Arcee explained with a chuckle.

Saberwolf laughed a bit herself.

"He's not going to like finding out Bulkhead carried him," she said.

"Oh he's not going to find out. I'll just tell him I walked him up there," Arcee said, "He's so tired, I'll be able to tell him anything and he'll believe it."

"Arcee tells a lie? That's unheard of!" Saberwolf said.

"Oh, a little white lie won't hurt him. It will save him some embarrassment," Arcee said, "I wouldn't do it otherwise."

Saberwolf nodded. Then she realized Spike wasn't with her.

"Where's Spike?" she asked, looking around frantically.

"He's in the hospital making a good recovery," Arcee said, "Thanks to you."

Saberwolf sighed in relief.

"Optimus isn't mad is he?" she asked, "I disobeyed a direct order."

"If he is, I wouldn't be able to tell," Arcee said, "He's mostly worried. He doesn't like when his teammates are in peril."

Saberwolf lowered her head. She though about Prowl and how that might have affected Optimus.

"Yeah, I bet…"

"Just apologize and he'll be fine," Arcee said, "Now, let's discuss your situation."

Saberwolf looked up at Arcee in confusion.

"You've only been out for about five mega-cycles. Most of the damage was aesthetic, like Bulkhead a week or so ago. The only real damage was to your side, but Ratchet fixed that up easily. You were lucky to be in your animal mode," Arcee said, "It protects your internal structure better."

Saberwolf nodded in understanding.

"So when am I allowed to move about," she asked.

"Ratchet said you'd be fine to walk around after you woke up," Arcee answered, "But he said you shouldn't overdo it. Take it easy."

_Great…_

Saberwolf nodded. She jumped down off of the berth she was on and transformed. Her side still felt sore, but other than that she felt great.

She followed Arcee out to the living area. Everyone looked happy to see her up. She could tell they all had rested. She was glad they hadn't been up worrying about her. She walked over to Optimus, who was sitting at the table, and apologized for disobeying his orders.

"It's alright. I don't like giving orders anyway. I just didn't want you to get hurt," he said, "But you had good reason. If it weren't for you, that firefighter would be dead and his family would be mourning him."

Saberwolf nodded.

"I'm glad you've made a good recovery. And thanks for apologizing," Optimus finished.

"You're welcome," Saberwolf said.

Optimus nodded and went back to playing cards with BlackArachnia. Saberwolf walked over to where Sari and Bumblebee were listening to the radio.

"This is an old song from 2010. It's been dedicated by one of our listeners to a lost loved one."

Saberwolf turned towards the radio in interest. She liked listening to older songs. It started with a piano, then a female voice started singing.

_ Well it's good to hear your voice_

_ I hope you're doing fine_

_ And if you ever wonder_

_ I'm lonely here tonight_

_ I'm lost here in this moment_

_ And time keeps slippin' by_

_ And if I could have just one wish I'd have you by my side_

Saberwolf felt her spark twist.

_ Oh, oh, I miss you_

_ Oh, oh, I need you_

_ And I love you more than I did before_

_ And if today I don't see your face_

_ Nothin's changed no one can take your place_

_ It gets harder every day_

_ Say you love me more than you did before_

_ And I'm sorry it's this way but I'm coming home_

_ I'll be coming home_

_ And if you ask me I will stay_

_ I will stay_

The room went silent and everyone turned towards the radio. The song grew more intense.

_Well I try to live without you_

_ And tears fall from my eyes_

_ I'm alone and I feel empty_

_ God I'm torn apart inside_

_ I look up at the stars_

_ Hopin' you're doin' the same_

_ And somehow I feel closer_

_ And I can hear you say_

_ Oh, oh, I miss you_

_ Oh, oh, I need you_

_ I love you more than I did before_

_ And if today I don't see your face_

_ Nothin's changed no one can take your place_

_ It gets harder every day_

_ Say you love me more than you did before_

_ And I'm sorry it's this way but I'm coming home_

_ I'll be coming home_

_ And if you ask me I will stay_

_ I will stay_

_ Always stay_

_ I never wanna lose you_

_ And if I had to I would chose you so stay_

_ Please always stay_

_ You're the one that I hold on to_

_ Cuz my heart would stop without _

_You_

The song slowed a bit and all instruments faded but the piano. Saberwolf's spark felt tender with sadness. She saw Sari's optics filling with tears.

_I love you more than I did before_

_ And if today I don't see your face_

_ Nothin's changed no one could take your place_

_ It gets harder every day_

The song picked up speed again and the other accompaniment came back. The atmosphere of the room had changed completely. Everyone seemed to be mourning.

_Say you love me more than you did before_

_ And I'm sorry that it's this way but I'm coming home_

_ I'll be coming home_

_ And if you ask I will stay_

_ I'll always stay_

_ And I love you more than I did before_

_ And I'm sorry that is' this way_

_ But I'm comin' home_

_ I'll be comin' home_

_ And if you ask me I will stay_

_ I will stay…_

When the song ended, everyone was silent.

"That was Stay by Miley Cyrus. Thanks to that listener for the special dedication. Very touching. And now we'll pick things up with—"

Sari flicked off the radio. Ratchet walked in with a big yawn.

"What's everyone so down about?" he asked, looking around the room and all the somber faces.

Saberwolf stood and headed for the door.

"I need some air," she said, voice trembling on 'air'.

No one protested. Ratchet just looked dumbfounded, and everyone else just nodded. Sari sniffled and left to her room. Bumblebee followed her looking sad and concerned.

After she was clear of the plant, Saberwolf transformed and ran as fast as she could towards Lake Erie. She got there quickly. She plunged into the lake and ran as fast as she could to Dinobot Island. She stopped at the beach and shook the lake water off of her chassis.

_I'm coming home; I'll be coming home…_

The song still echoed in her head. Saberwolf transformed and sat down in the sand. She felt herself on the brink of hysteria. She crossed her legs and put her hands on her knees in a comfortable position. She closed her eyes and cycled some air. Then she started meditating like Prowl had shown her a solar-cycle or two ago. After a few cycles she felt the soothing calm that went along with meditation.

She stayed that way for a while. When she stopped her mind was clear and she was calm. The song had stopped running through her head.

_I officially hate radios…_

Saberwolf stood and walked down the beach a little. She wasn't quite ready to go back to the base. She wasn't sure how the others had taken it. They all seemed sad, and Saberwolf figured the song had brought up memories of Prowl. She wasn't ready to go back to that until she was sure they'd gotten the sadness out of their system. It made her feel a little selfish, but she didn't want to risk another breakdown right after she'd calmed herself.

So she walked around the curve of the island, wondering what made it shaped this way. It wasn't like that when she'd first arrived here a while ago. She looked up at a tree that was leaning to the left considerably. It stood out among the others, and Saberwolf had a feeling she'd seen it before. Then she remembered she had parked her ship not to far from it. She turned towards where it was supposed to be and saw nothing but lake water.

_You've got to be kidding. I chose that spot because it was hidden from everything! Now it's suddenly gone! What the hell?_

Saberwolf glared at the spot for a moment. She shook her head in exasperation and kept walking. She recalled her conversation with Sentinel four stellar-cycles ago:

"_What made you want to come to earth?" _

"_Honestly, I wanted to meet the bots who put Megatron in the Stockade."_

Thinking back, Saberwolf realized there was a big fault in that statement. She'd told Sentinel and Jazz she'd been on Earth for two stellar-cycles. It had only been a few months after his capture when she met them. She was glad now that Sentinel was too stupid to realize the contradiction. Saberwolf was shocked at how poorly she'd put her story together. She was glad it was only Sentinel who'd asked why she came to Earth, and that he was the only one around to hear her answer.

Her true reason for coming to Earth was to escape her past. When she landed, she didn't even know about Optimus and his team. She learned about them later. She had told Sentinel the truth when she said she'd been on Earth for two stellar-cycles. But she'd stayed on the down low the entire time. She wasn't trying to attract attention. She hadn't even known Megatron was on Earth. But no one did for a while.

When he'd shown his face, Saberwolf had completely hidden hers. She fled to another continent for a while and hoped he wouldn't follow her. She wasn't ready to face him again. She was trying to get away from her past.

She didn't come back to Detroit until after Megatron's capture. That was when she decided she wanted to meet Optimus's team. It most definitely wasn't her reason for coming to Earth.

_Sentinel, you're one stupid mech…_

Saberwolf stopped walking and laughed. Then she realized she'd walked all the way to the other side of the island. She stopped and looked out at the water. The sun glinted off of it brightly. She squinted and adjusted her visor to block it. But something still glowed harshly in her vision. It was a very bright blue light. She looked around and found the source of it. A little blue crystal. As she looked at it, it stopped glowing so harshly. It was as if it had merely been trying to capture her attention. She walked over and picked it up, sensing a large amount of energy within it.

_This is… An AllSpark fragment?_

She suddenly felt certain that that's what it was. She'd never seen one before and found herself marveling at the beauty of it. As she stared, it started wiggling in her hand. She gripped it more solidly, not wanting to drop it. It started tugging at her arm with a surprisingly strong force.

_What the hell?_

It started pulling harder and she found herself being dragged towards the water. She gripped it with both hands and planted her feet.

"Would you stop that!" she yelled at the fragment.

The thing stopped pulling and glowed really bright again. Then it focused all the light into a single beam that pointed into the water.

"I'll right! If you want to go in the water so bad we'll go!" Saberwolf said.

_I'm talking to it? What the fuck?_

Saberwolf shook her head and followed the direction of the beam. She stopped when the water was at her ankles.

"Happy?"

The fragment heated up a bit and burned her.

"Ow!" Saberwolf dropped it, but grabbed it quickly with the other hand.

It was back to normal. The light beam was brighter.

"Okay, okay!"

Saberwolf followed the beam into the lake.

"I can't believe I'm being bullied into doing what a stupid crystal wants!" she said angrily.

_Not a normal crystal though…_

Saberwolf shook her head and kept going. She stopped when the beam disappeared. She was at the edge of a small drop off. She looked around and saw a metal wing sticking up from the sand below. The Decepticon symbol flashed in the crystal's light. She noticed his head was laying in the sand next to the wing.

_So they found his head… Okay… But that's not a huge deal…_

"Why did you lead me here?" she asked the fragment.

The fragment tugged away from her hand. It flew into the sand around the wing and disappeared before she could catch it. Then there was a blinding blue light. Saberwolf put her hands up to block the light and backed up. When it faded, Starscream was standing upright and looking at his body. Saberwolf dropped into a crouch behind a bit of seaweed and watched.

"I can't believe it! I'm… I'm alive!" he said.

He had a slightly high pitched voice with a deep undertone. He was looking in his spark chamber and saw the new spark the fragment had made.

_I resurrected a Decepticon… Oops…_

"What happened to my null ray?" Starscream asked himself, looking at the one Saberwolf bent.

He looked at his other arm.

"Well at least I have one…"

_I should probably reverse this…_

Saberwolf pulled her sword silently from its sheath, making sure not to let it go into and energy blade yet. She stayed low and skirted around the edge of the drop off. It was a rough circle and wasn't very large. Saberwolf guessed it was formed when they dropped Starscream.

She got behind Starscream and stayed there as he moved around. Starscream was looking around and his optics widened in confusion.

"What am I doing at the bottom of a lake?" Starscream stomped his pedes angrily, "Oh wait, I was flying before that AllSpark fragment was pulled out… I guess I could have landed in a lake."

"Actually, you were dropped here by a helicopter," Saberwolf said, announcing her presence, "You used to be in a forest."

Saberwolf moved quickly out of sight as Starscream turned around.

"Who's there?" he shouted, pointing his working null ray.

Saberwolf decided to toy with him. She moved behind him again.

"Over here!" she called.

She moved again before he could spot her. He looked up in confusion.

"What? Where did you go?" Starscream shouted.

Saberwolf moved forward silently and stood close behind him.

"Third time's the charm!" she said teasingly.

She dodged Starscream's wing as he turned around.

"Whoa!" he was surprised by her proximity.

As he tried to jump away he lost his footing. He started falling backwards, slowly because of being underwater, and flailed. Saberwolf laughed as he tried to pull himself beck up before he fell completely. He failed and ended up kicking up a bunch of sand.

"Ah, the notorious Starscream," Saberwolf said as she walked over to stand by his head, "Graceful in the sky, a klutz underwater."

Saberwolf put her hands on her hips and looked down at him.

"That will just make my task much easier," she said.

Starscream saw her sword and his optics lit up with panic.

"Say goodnight Decepticon," Saberwolf said.

Starscream tried to grab her foot and trip her. She saw it coming and jumped out of the way. She landed on Starscream's chest plate and pinned him down.

"No, no, no. None of that," she said.

"You! I know you! I've seen you before!" Starscream said.

"Not likely," Saberwolf said.

She readied her sword again.

"You're that kid who brought us Kup!" he said.

Saberwolf stopped. She narrowed her optics.

"Shut up," she said.

Starscream smirked.

"Yes, that's exactly who you are," he said.

"I said shut up," Saberwolf repeated, spark heavy.

Starscream used her hesitation to his advantage. He swung his arm up to knock her down. Saberwolf dodged and jumped off of him. Starscream stood and pointed his working null ray at her. Saberwolf put her sword up defensively, letting it glow with energy. They stood that way for a while, watching one another. Starscream wore a triumphant sneer, Saberwolf a colder than space glare.

"You've grown up, girl," Starscream said.

"You've grown ugly," Saberwolf said, "Well, uglier."

Starscream's optics narrowed.

"I'm still more skilled than you could ever be," he said cockily.

"You haven't seen me for a long while," Saberwolf said icily.

"That's right, you disappeared," Starscream said, "Couldn't handle the life of a bounty hunter? Or was it because of that young mech you were friends with. What was his name?"

"Don't you dare," Saberwolf warned.

"Ransack. That was it," Starscream said.

Saberwolf lunged. She cut off the end of his working null ray and kicked him in the chest plate. He fell backwards and she held her blade to his throat.

"Don't ever talk about Ransack," Saberwolf said.

Starscream smirked.

"I see you haven't forgotten the moves we taught you," Starscream said.

"I perfected and improved on them," Saberwolf sneered.

"Big talk from someone who ran away after slagging one bot," Starscream said, "Poor Ransack. He had a rather unjust end didn't he?"

"If you stop talking I'll let you keep your glossa," Saberwolf said, forcing away the memories that flooded through her processor.

"Now you're treating me unfairly," Starscream said.

He pushed Saberwolf away. She didn't fight back. Her memories were threatening to consume her and she focused on containing them.

"It's no matter," Starscream said, walking away, "Looking at your previous attempt at such matters, I know you don't have it in you to do anything of the sort."

He stepped up out of the little pit and kept walking.

"Look me up if you ever want to chat again," he said as he disappeared.

Saberwolf stared after him feeling hopeless. She stood in the little pit for a while, not knowing what to do next.

She eventually decided to go back to the base. She took the long way, trying to push the horrible encounter away to the depths of her mind. She decided not to tell the team she accidently resurrected Starscream. She didn't know how, and she figured they'd come up with their own idea for how it happened.

_Let's just hope that if we encounter him, he says nothing. About anything…_

Saberwolf felt herself again desperate to forget her past.

* * *

The rest of the day was uneventful. Everyone was in a good mood again when she got back. Now they were all readying for recharge. Saberwolf walked into her room and dropped the happy mask she'd worn all day. She transformed and slumped into the corner she slept in.

Her nightmares returned that night, carrying fragments of painful memories with them.


	18. Chapter 18

**_Here's to Autobot Fangirl! thanks for all the feedback and input on the story. sorry the chapter's so short. it seemed so much longer in my head... still, please enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter 18: Races**

"Boo!"

Saberwolf's spark pounded nervously and she turned and drew her sword. She pinned the bot behind her to the wall and held him there, sword at their throat, and glared at them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey it's just me!"

Saberwolf realized the bot she was holding was Bumblebee. She sighed in relief and stepped away from Bumblebee.

"Oh…"

"Jeez! I was just messing around! What's got you so jumpy Saber?" Bumblebee asked.

"I don't know… Bad dreams I guess," Saberwolf said.

_And the fact that I jumpstarted a dangerous Decepticon two weeks ago and I never told anyone…_

"Hmm… You're still stressed out from that fire thing aren't you?" Bumblebee asked.

Saberwolf knew it was wrong to lie, but she was desperate to keep the team from finding out about Starscream. So she nodded.

"I thought so… Hey! I know how to get your mind off of it!" Bumblebee said.

_Doubtful…_

"Come on! Let's go get Sari and I'll show you what I have in mind!" Bumblebee said excitedly.

Saberwolf sighed and followed him. Sari was sitting on the couch watching cartoons.

"Hey Sari! Can I talk to ya for a second?" Bumblebee called.

Sari's optics lit up.

"Sure!" she said with a smile.

Bumblebee sat down and whispered to Sari.

"So Saber's still jumpy about the whole fire thing," he whispered, not knowing Saberwolf could still hear, "I was thinking we could have a little race to get her mind off of it? Wanna come?"

"Sounds super fun!" Sari said, "But didn't Optimus tell us not to race anymore?"

"He said no racing in the city. We can go to Dinobot Island and race there."

"Cool!"

Sari jumped up off of the couch and turned off the T.V.

"Let's go!" she said happily.

Saberwolf held back a sigh. She followed the pair outside, transforming as she did so.

_A race? How could that help?_

Sari and Bumblebee got stuck at a red light on the way to the lake. Saberwolf stopped on the sidewalk to wait for them. Then they heard an alarm go off and Saberwolf turned to see where it came from. She saw a man in a strange orange suit coming out of a bank, followed closely by a woman wearing way too many watches.

_Oh great. More human threats. Just what I needed…_

"Nanosec and Slo-mo!" Sari said, climbing out of Bumblebee.

"I thought they were in jail!" Bumblebee said as he transformed.

"Apparently not," Saberwolf said.

She dashed towards the pair of crooks. Sari and Bumblebee followed.

_Let's just get this over with…_

"Uh-oh!" the man in orange said.

Saberwolf guessed he was Nanosec because of the big N on his suit.

"No problem sweetie," the woman, Slo-mo, said.

She held up a watch on a string at Saberwolf.

"What the—"

Saberwolf watched in confusion as a blue beam shot from the clock face. She moved out of the way and watched as it shot past her, hitting Bumblebee.

"No! Not aggaaaiinnn…" his voice slowed and his body stopped moving.

"What the fuuu…" Saberwolf couldn't finish her sentence.

Her body slowed and wouldn't move no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't speak either. She could see only what was in front of her because her optics couldn't move, and she could hear everything. Her spark thumped rapidly in panic. Saberwolf tried and tried to move but she couldn't break the invisible force that bound her.

"Nice shot!" Nanosec commented.

"Thank you," Slo-mo said.

"Not again!" Sari was looking up at Saberwolf and Bumblebee in dismay.

She turned towards Nanosec and Slo-mo. What Saberwolf saw next amazed her.

With a small, high pitched transformation sound, Sari changed completely. Armor enclosed her body and a helmet covered her head. A battle mask flicked out over her face and wings came out of her back. Blade flicked out of her arms and skates came out of her feet. She charged at Nanosec and Slo-mo.

"Uh-oh! Time to go hun!" Nanosec said.

Saberwolf slowly regained her mobility just in time to see Nanosec scoop up Slo-mo and dash away in an orange blur.

"Dammit!" Sari's voice was changed slightly under her face mask.

She retracted her helmet and looked back at Saberwolf and Bumblebee, who'd regained his mobility as well.

"C'mon! We have to go after them!" she said.

Saberwolf just stared at her in shock.

_That's why she seemed so different from the other humans!_

"Why are you staring at me?" Sari asked, "Oh wait, you've never seen me transform have you? Well, surprise!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Saberwolf said.

"Uh, guys," Bumblebee cut in, "Sorry to break up the surprise party, but they're getting away!"

"They can't go far. From what I can tell, Slo-mo doesn't have a suit like Nanosec's. Meaning she won't be able to survive that speed for very long," Saberwolf said.

"Why's that?" Sari asked.

"Because super high speeds like that would rip a human to shreds without protection," Saberwolf said, "Physics."

Sari nodded. Bumblebee cringed at the thought.

"So he'll have to set her down eventually. And from the looks of it, they'll stick together," Sari said.

"Exactly. They couldn't have gone far," Saberwolf said.

Bumblebee transformed.

"Okay, but watch out for those beams!" he said.

He took off down the street. Saberwolf followed and Sari kept up amazingly well, flicking her helmet up again.

After a few minutes of searching in the direction the crooks had gone, Saberwolf picked up their voices. They were whispering, but Saberwolf was sure it was them. They were in an alley they just passed.

"Hold on!" Saberwolf stopped and listened.

"Shh! I think she heard us," Slo-mo's whisper was very faint.

Saberwolf narrowed her optics.

_Hmm… I have an idea…_

Bumblebee and Sari had stopped and were watching her intently.

"Never mind… I thought I heard them," Saberwolf said, walking over to Sari and Bumblebee.

She nodded her head at Sari, whose optics lit up knowingly.

"Well where could they have gone?" she asked.

Bumblebee transformed and looked confused. Saberwolf walked over and Sari motioned for Bee to huddle up.

"They're in that alley back there. They're waiting for us to leave," Saberwolf said, "You two keep walking like you're still searching. I'll go around and flush them out."

The two nodded. Bumblebee stood straight and he and Sari kept walking. Saberwolf dashed over to a low building and jumped up, then jumped over to the buildings surrounding the alley.

"I think they went this way," Bumblebee said.

"Well let's look," Sari said.

_Good job guys._

Saberwolf crouched low and crawled to the edge of the building. She looked down into the alley.

"Good, they're moving on, vamoosing, clearing the area," Slo-mo said.

_Why must she say a bunch of different things that mean the same thing? It's really annoying._

"Then let's get out of here," Nanosec said.

They turned and moved away from the streets.

_Smart, take the alleys. Too bad it won't work._

Saberwolf jumped down and blocked their path. She growled menacingly at them.

"Whoa!" Nanosec shouted, dropping the back of money they'd taken from the bank in surprise.

"Oh no you don't, pooch!" Slo-mo pointed the watch.

It glowed blue and Saberwolf dodged the blast.

"Nice shot! Now it's my turn," Saberwolf said.

She transformed and pulled her pistol out. She pointed it at the pair.

"Yikes!" Nanosec shouted. He dashed out and Slo-mo followed suit.

Sari and Bumblebee were waiting. They weren't quick enough to catch Nanosec, but they grabbed Slo-mo. Sari took the watch away from her and Bumblebee held her by her cape.

"Unhand me you giant yellow buffoon!" she yelled, "Nanosec!"

Nanosec had stopped further up the street. Sari charged an energy bolt and Saberwolf readied to catch him if he tried to get Slo-mo.

"Help me!" Slo-mo called.

Nanosec looked at the Autobots, then at Slo-mo, then back at the Autobots.

"Sari sweetheart, but I gotta run," he said.

In the blink of an optic he was gone.

"That double crossing, no good, thieving ass wipe!" Slo-mo shouted. She struggled in Bumblebee's grip. Sari pulled some zip ties out of her pocket and Bumblebee lowered Slo-mo so she could tie her up.

"You'll ride with me and Bee while we go after your boyfriend," Sari said.

Saberwolf looked at her.

"I take it you have a plan then?"

"Yep," Sari said with a grin, "I'm gonna call Optimus and have him and the others go to Main Street. You meet him there and get ready to catch Nanosec. Me and Bee will herd him that way."

"How are we gonna do that?" Bumblebee asked.

"With your speed and a few carefully placed energy bolts," Sari replied.

Saberwolf smirked.

"I like your style Sari," she said.

She and Bumblebee transformed. Sari put Slo-mo in the back seat and then hopped in the passenger one.

"Good luck," Saberwolf said to them before taking off towards Main Street.

* * *

Bumblebee flicked out his new and improved turbo boosters and sped off after Nanosec. Sari put her helmet up and leaned out the window. When he was in sight, she fired an energy bolt at the ground to his right.

"AAHH!"

He turned left down another street. Sari fired at him again and this time he took a street to his right.

They chased him in this fashion for a while, Sari using her knowledge of the city to guide Nanosec towards Main Street.

"So, this has been a great outing, huh?" Bumblebee said.

"I'd call it the most awesome date ever!" Sari said.

Bumblebee's spark raced.

"So… we are dating then?" he dared to ask.

"That's the impression I was under," Sari said.

"Oh phew! I wasn't sure," Bumblebee said.

Sari giggled.

"Who knew you would be insecure?" Sari said teasingly.

"I'm not insecure!" Bumblebee said defensively, "Just unsure!"

Sari laughed.

"Well there's no need to be," Sari said affectionately.

Bumblebee felt giddy with happiness.

"I know," Bumblebee said.

"Oh get a room," Slo-mo said.

Sari shot a small beam at her.

"Ow!"

"Shut up back there!"

After a few more minutes, Nanosec was on a beeline towards Main Street. The road appeared to be empty.

"See ya later suckers!" Nanosec called.

He sped up and laughed as he looked back at them. He looked forward and saw a wall of Autobots suddenly in front of him. He didn't have enough time to stop and ended up slamming into Optimus Prime's leg.

"Ow…" he said as he fell backwards limply.

"Nice block, boss bot!" Bumblebee called, retracting his boosters and slowing to a stop.

Sari climbed out and dragged Slo-mo out of the back seat. Bumblebee transformed and smirked.

"Nice driving Bee," Sari said.

"Nice shooting," Bumblebee said.

Sari smiled at him as she put zip ties around Nanosec's wrists.

* * *

Saberwolf handed the bag of cash she'd picked up out of the alley to Captain Fanzone, who had arrived with the Autobots. He thanked her and had some officers put the two crooks in squad cars.

"You think they'll work out the whole double cross thing?" Sari asked.

"They'll have plenty of time to talk about it over prison phones," Captain Fanzone said, "Good work Miss Sumdac."

"Thanks!" Sari said.

Saberwolf smirked with amusement at her smug face.

"Careful not to get a big head Sari," Saberwolf said, "We still have a race to complete."

"Race?" Optimus said suspiciously.

"We were going to hold a race on Dinobot Island before this whole mess," Sari said.

Optimus's expression lightened.

"Yeah! One that I'll totally beat you at!" Bumblebee said.

"Not without those turbo boosters," Saberwolf said.

"Oh yeah? I bet you a case of axel grease I can beat you without them!"

The whole team laughed.

"Well, let's go find out," Saberwolf said.

* * *

Saberwolf got up stiffly from where Prowl had kicked her down.

"I can beat Bumblebee in a race but not you in a fight," she said with disdain, "that's wonderful."

"You only beat Bumblebee because he wasn't paying attention and swerved off road," Prowl said, "I always pay attention. And I always focus on the current situation."

Saberwolf now regretted telling him about the race.

"All right, all right, I'll focus," Saberwolf said, dusting herself off.

When she was done, she looked up and saw Prowl watching her. Something in his optics made her spark pulse more rapidly. Prowl shook his helm a bit and took up a defensive stance.

"Again," he said.

Saberwolf shook herself. She took up her own stance and began calculating her next strike.


	19. Chapter 19

**_I'm not proud of my work with the last chapter. So I've decided to dedicate this chapter to Autobot Fangirl. I hope this makes up for the last one. It's short, but i think it's much better quality than the last one. Enjoy._**

**_disclaimer: i do not own transformers._**

**_Warning: This chapter has some somewhat dark moments..._**

* * *

**Chapter 19: Jailbreak**

Megatron woke with a strange feeling inside. He recognized it as anticipation. For a moment he was confused, but he quickly remembered what he was anticipating.

_Today's the day…_

Megatron smirked with devilish pleasure. The long weeks of waiting were finally over. By the end of the solar-cycle he'd be on his way to earth. All he had to do was wait for the signal from Waspinator: his and his troops' restraints being lifted.

It was supposed to happen in the midst of the riot. By then the entire stockade would be distracted. Waspinator said he'd ensure this himself. After being released, Megatron would make his way to the weapons detainment unit and take back his fusion cannon.

_Then the Stockade will fall…_

Megatron was up early. He hadn't meant to be. He and all the others were told to get as much recharge as possible. The riot would start during the Minimum Security's yard time. That wasn't for another four mega-cycles. Megatron had wanted to wake only one mega-cycle from the designated yard time. But for some reason, he couldn't stay in stasis. It wasn't in his nature to be anxious, so he assumed it was a dream that had woken him.

Megatron tried to cling to what he had dreamed about. But he couldn't find any fragments of it.

_That would be courtesy of the poor energon this place serves._

Megatron had been forced into deeper and more vulnerable recharge lately. The poor grade of energon was really taking a toll.

_It will not get in the way of your plans…_

This is what he had to keep telling himself. He refused to have a lack of energy be his undoing. His reputation was sure to be strained already, being taken down by a space bridge repair team, and he didn't need anything else to add on to that.

But currently, he found himself bored again. He tried to imagine torturing his enemies, but his mind couldn't focus on that. He kept drifting back to trying to fetch his dream. It felt important.

_Saberwolf…_

The one thought he managed to grab broke the dam that was blocking the dream. He remembered plain as day what had gone on in his processor in recharge. It was the same scene over and over again. Watching Saberwolf miraculously standing from a large concussion wave, crossing the space between her and a young mech, standing over him and bending down to snap his neck. Megatron could hear the snap and see the wrong angle of the mech's neck as if it had happened moments ago. But it was a memory from long ago. The memory that proved all of Saberwolf's potential.

_To be able to stand from Ransack's concussion blast is astounding. That blast killed one of my stronger warriors during a training session… Saberwolf is more powerful than she knows… How very satisfying it is to know that her potential can still be harnessed. I just have to reach her…_

Megatron again found himself questioning whether this was the proper way to go about it. He had taken this approach for the simple fact that all other attempts had failed. He wanted to try something completely different. Perhaps then he wouldn't be disappointed. He thought about what a success would mean. He wondered if he was really ready for it. He thought about any other ways he could complete his task that would mean more time for him. But he could think of none.

_This is the only way… I suppose I'll find out if I'm ready for it all when the time comes… For all I know this could be another failure waiting to happen… But this feels different… Perhaps I'll finally succeed… _

The thought filled him with both hope and sorrow. He pushed it out of his mind. He couldn't think about such things now. He needed to focus on the events of today. He needed to focus on what was most important for _now_. And what was currently vital was energy. Megatron knew the morning ration would be coming around soon. He wondered if it would be too much to hope for a better grade than normal.

The heavy doors to the Maximum Security opened and the mech that normally brought the energon showed up. He walked over to Megatron's cell. Megatron noticed his steps were more deliberate than normal, his head held a little lower so the bill of his helm hid his optics. His hands gripped the tray carrying the energon just a bit more firmly than usual. Megatron noticed these miniscule details, ones that the guards missed, and knew something was up. He narrowed his optics as the wall he was strapped to moved forward. The mech stuck the straw through the bars and Megatron took it, slightly wary. Megatron looked over the mech, trying to figure out why he was acting so differently. It wasn't until he finished the energon and the wall was moving back into place that he found out what it was. As he slid back, the mech looked up at him.

"Hope you enjoyed that."

Megatron narrowed his optics in understanding. He felt the rush of energy as his body willingly absorbed the high grade energon. He struggled to keep his composure. The energon felt great. He watched as the guard walked away, purple optics glowing with anticipation.

* * *

The restraints lifted with a soft click. Megatron hadn't been prepared for it and he nearly fell on his face plates. He managed to catch himself though, and he stood tall. He reveled in his new-found freedom. He crossed his cell to the bars. He waited. Soon enough the bars retracted into the ceiling.

_Thank you, Waspinator._

Alarms were sounding all around. Megatron heard a bot on a loudspeaker calling out orders.

Megatron stepped out into the empty hall. He looked around and wondered what Waspinator had done to distract even the Maximum Security guards. He brushed it off as his two MaxSec warriors approached.

"So it is time, my liege?" Shockwave asked, kneeling.

Lugnut copied his kneel, but said nothing.

"It is time," Megatron said with a smile, "Good to see you again Shockwave."

"I wish it were on better terms, Lord Megatron," Shockwave said, standing.

"Yes, there could be better places for a reunion, but nonetheless this will be a great victory for the Decepticons," Megatron said.

"Under your leadership, I know we cannot fail," Shockwave said.

Megatron smirked. He glanced up at Lugnut. His optic was clouded, and he was unusually silent.

_So the stockade has affected him… Pity…_

Megatron was a bit saddened. One of his biggest loyalists, literally and figuratively, had been changed, if only a little. Megatron hoped it wasn't more than a quieter demeanor.

He walked to the door leading out of MaxSec. He looked at the keypad to the right and noticed it was on lockdown.

"Shockwave," Megatron prompted, gesturing the keypad.

Shockwave tinkered with it, then turned to Megatron.

"It requires an Autobot energy signature," Shockwave said.

He transformed into his old Autobot persona, Longarm Prime. He stood in front of the scanner.

"I hope this works," Shockwave said.

Megatron knew the chances of that working were slim to none. The Autobots would remove Longarm from the system and probably mark him as an enemy.

That was exactly what they had done. The keypad set out another alarm.

"SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH! MAXIMUM SECURTY PRISONER SHOCKWAVE HAS ESCAPED FROM HIS CELL! REPEAT! SECURITY BREACH! SECURITY BREACH…"

Megatron's optics narrowed.

"I apologize, my liege," Shockwave said, returning to his normal form.

"It is no matter," Megatron said, "The Autobots will have to respond, and they'll open the door for us."

Just as he said it, the doors opened and three guards rushed in. They looked at the three Decepticons in utter shock. Megatron recognized two of them from the other day, Beta and Skids. He smiled at their horrified faces. He stepped towards Skids, who was standing in the lead.

"And you thought I was going mad, didn't you," Megatron said.

The Autobots were frozen in shock as Megatron lifted Skids by his neck.

"Well, I'm not," Megatron said as he crushed the little mech's throat. Skids's body fell limp and Megatron tossed him aside.

"Skids!" Beta shouted in horror.

Before she could do anything Shockwave had taken her pistol and shot her through the optic. Lugnut had bashed the third bot into the ground. Megatron looked at the three corpses with triumph. He was especially glad to see that Lugnut was looking more himself.

"Good work," he said to Shockwave and Lugnut, "Now, I must find my cannon."

Megatron walked over to Skids and ripped open the back of his helm. He shot a cable from his finger into Skids's processor and downloaded the location of his cannon.

"Let's go."

The three Decepticons walked out and found the rest of the Stockade in chaos. Every single cell had been opened and the prisoners were swarming the Autobots on guard. They continued on their way and found the weapons detainment unit quickly. Megatron's cannon was in a glass case on the far wall. He walked over and smashed the glass. More alarms went off, but Megatron didn't care. The entire facility was in chaos, so a few more alarms wouldn't do much. He turned to his two followers. They were gathering their own weapons.

"Are we ready my liege?" Shockwave asked.

"Let's raise this place to the ground!" Megatron said darkly.

They ran out to the massive riot and joined in. Megatron reveled in the feel of his enemies crunching in his hands, the sound of their internal fluids splattering on the floor and walls. He laughed in pleasure as he ripped countless Autobots to pieces. They joined up with Waspinator during the fight. He was using a combination of his transwarp and electrical abilities to create massive explosions. He was laughing like a maniac the entire time.

"Waspinator's former prison, falling to ashes by Waspinator's hands!" he shouted in triumph.

Megatron understood the feeling. He turned and saw a group of young Autobots fighting off some of the rioters.

_Academy bots… The chances to cripple the Autobots keep lining up._

Megatron took pleasure in their screams as he took care of them personally.

After another mega-cycle or so, Megatron was standing over the last Autobot left. The Stockade was in ruins under his feet.

"Looks like those reinforcements didn't arrive in time," Megatron said as he gripped her throat in his hand, "So what should I do with you… You've watched your comrades die in front of you, you no longer have a left arm, and you've failed in your job to keep us contained."

The femme hung limply, knowing she was defeated. Megatron smiled.

"I could kill you… but that would be what you want right about now," Megatron said, "I could use you as my personal slave."

The femme looked up at him, but instead of horror, her optics were blank with defeat.

"But you don't seem like you'd be very interesting," Megatron thought for a moment.

"Time is ticking!" Waspinator urged, "Just kill her so we can leave! Waspinator don't feel like dealing with the impending reinforcements!"

"I know," Megatron pulled the femme's face close, "I'll let you stay online to report to your reinforcements how about your failure. You can tell them all about it, and then live the rest of your life-cycle with the memory to haunt you."

The femme's optics lit with horror as his words sunk in.

"Please…" she begged.

Megatron dropped her. She just stared at him hopelessly. Megatron laughed darkly as he stepped into the blue ball Waspinator was forming.

"My gift to you," he said.

Then they warped away.

* * *

"What's next, Lord Megatron?" Shockwave asked as they stared at Earth.

They were standing on the surface of Mars. Waspinator had indeed picked the perfect place to warp to.

"We wait for Swindle to arrive," Megatron replied, "And we make plans then. In the meantime, we must get our signals blocked again. I assume you know how to do it?"

"Yes, of course, my lord," Shockwave said, "I'll get started right away."

Megatron nodded and Shockwave left him with his thoughts.

_I must wait for the perfect time to strike… Let them know of my escape, but not where I am. It's too bad Swindle didn't arrive in time to have information for me… That mech never was the fasted pilot…_

Megatron wished he had more information on Earth's situation. But it was too risky to send any scouting patrols until their signals were masked.

_I'll just have to wait… but mark my words Optimus; I will come for you… You too, Saberwolf._

* * *

"NO!"

Saberwolf jumped out of recharge with a start. Her spark pounded. She had a horrible feeling in her core. She dashed out of her room and down the hall to Optimus's.

She transformed and pounded on the door. BlackArachnia was the one to open it.

"What the hell—"

Saberwolf pushed past her and looked around frantically for Optimus.

"Saberwolf! What are you—" Optimus started.

"Optimus!" Saberwolf cut him off, "Something terrible has happened! I don't know what, but I have this horrid feeling that—"

Saberwolf's optics went wide as she realized what was disturbing her so much. She knew without a doubt that what she was feeling was accurate.

_Only one thing could cause this bad of a disturbance…_

Optimus and BlackArachnia looked at her with concern.

"What is it?" Optimus asked.

Saberwolf looked up at the two of them with a heavy spark.

"Megatron's escaped."


	20. Chapter 20

_**so this chapter is really short. it's just a little stepping stone. still, enjoy! :)**_

_**disclaimer: i do not own transformers**_

* * *

**Chapter 20: Impending Danger**

"What?" Optimus said, optics glowing with shock.

"Saberwolf, are you having nightmares again?" BlackArachnia said with concern.

"No… no it's real," Saberwolf said, voice shaking.

"You know this for a fact?" Optimus asked.

Saberwolf shook her head.

"No... I mean, yes! I mean… I-I-I don't know!" Saberwolf looked down and noticed her hands were shaking.

She clenched them into fists and crossed her arms to hide it.

"I just… I have this horrible feeling," Saberwolf said, "Something horrible happened."

"Saberwolf, Megatron is in Maximum Security in the Stockade," Optimus said, "There's no way he could get out."

Saberwolf looked up at him. She saw his optics filled with fear.

"Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?" Saberwolf asked.

Optimus just lowered his head.

"You feel it too!" Saberwolf said.

BlackArachnia looked at Optimus critically.

"That's what woke you," she said.

Optimus just nodded.

"We need to call Cybertron," Saberwolf said, "We need to know for sure."

Optimus nodded again.

"Wake everyone. They need to hear it too," he said.

BlackArachnia left to go get the others.

"He's coming for us…" Optimus said, "For me…"

_He's coming for me too…_

Saberwolf tried to stop shaking as they walked out, but she couldn't. The feeling in her spark was to disturbing.

_What a way to wake up…_

The others had gathered in the living room area and were looking at Optimus questioningly.

"Do you realize what time it is?" Ratchet asked irritably.

"There may be an emergency," Optimus said, "We need to get to Omega Supreme and make contact with Cybertron immediately."

"What do you mean there _may_ be an emergency?" Ratchet asked.

"No time to explain," Optimus said, "Transform and roll out!"

They moved swiftly, no traffic at such a late hour to hinder them. BlackArachnia had stayed at the plant. They weren't ready to explain that situation to the bots on Cybertron. They got to Omega quickly. The ramp was down again, and he was in recharge. They climbed aboard and Optimus activated to long range communicator.

"This is Optimus Prime to Cybertron, Optimus Prime to Cybertron. Do you copy?"

"You're safe!" Cliffjumper's helm appeared on screen, his optics held relief in them, "You're all safe! The first good news all solar-cycle!"

Saberwolf saw fatigue and severe sadness clouding his optics.

"Safe from what?" Bumblebee asked.

"Megatron. He escaped from the Stockade about two mega-cycles ago," Cliffjumper said, shoulders slumping.

The team was silent.

"The Stockade's in ruins. There was only one survivor and… well let's just say her processor probably won't ever recover," Cliffjumper said.

Saberwolf's spark felt like lead at the news.

"No…" she whispered.

Arcee put a hand over her mouth and leaned heavily on Ratchet. He put his arms around her and looked at the screen in dismay. Bumblebee's jaw was slack and he seemed to be in shock. Sari's optics were brimming with tears. Optimus lowered his head in defeat.

"And that's not even the worst part," Cliff continued, "There was a group of first year Academy bots on tour. Fresh out of boot camp. It took us a whole mega-cycle to figure out who they were. They were that mangled."

Saberwolf felt like someone had punched her. Arcee began sobbing into Ratchet's shoulder. Optimus was shaking.

Both ends were silent for a moment. Saberwolf heard Cliffjumper sigh and looked up to see him holding back hysterics.

"The Academy bots… One of them…" Cliffjumper paused and cycled some air, "Was my little sister…"

Sari's tears spilled over and she leaned into Bumblebee's helm. Bee lifted her off of his should and held her in his hands tenderly. He sat down and leaned against the wall, grief all over his face.

Ultra Magnus appeared onscreen. He put a hand on Cliff's shoulder.

"I'll take it from here, Cliffjumper," he said gently, "Go home and get some rest."

Cliffjumper looked up at Ultra Magnus gratefully, and then left, shoulders shaking as he sobbed.

"Optimus, there is no way of downplaying the terrible tragedy that has occurred. A memorial service will be held for all the bots lost tomorrow. But right now we have more pressing matters to discuss," Ultra Magnus said.

Optimus nodded and straightened up.

"Megatron's escape was aided. He somehow was able to plan the whole thing with help from the outside. We've identified this help as a strange, green mech that looks disturbingly similar to an Earth creature called a wasp," Ultra Magnus said, "He appears to have transwarp capabilities because he was able to warp the Decepticons away just as the reinforcements were arriving."

"Waspinator," Optimus said.

"You're familiar with this bot?"

"He used to be the fugitive know as Wasp. On earth he had an… accident. He ended up becoming half organic, half technological."

"That would explain how the escape went so well," Ultra Magnus said, "He escaped once, and with his new abilities he was able to do it again."

Optimus nodded.

"More to the point, we don't know Megatron's current whereabouts, but we can guess where he would be planning to go next."

"To Earth. To come after me," Optimus said.

"Exactly. As much as I hate to say it, you and your team are putting Earth and its inhabitants at risk by staying. How is your progress on your mission?" Ultra Magnus asked.

"Not good. We haven't been able to find much of what we're looking for," Optimus said.

"Just as I feared… Optimus, you need to gather all those fragments as fast as possible so you can return to Cybertron," Ultra Magnus said, "The longer you stay, the greater risk you put on Earth."

Optimus nodded.

"But if you detect even the slightest hint of Decepticon activity, you must come home immediately after. Whether you've gotten all the fragments or not. We want to minimize collateral damage if we can," Ultra Magnus said.

"So we do our job for as long as we can, and when the Cons show up we split," Ratchet said.

"Yes. I know it will be hard for you to leave, but you must do it for Earth's safety," Ultra Magnus said.

"We understand completely," Optimus said.

"Good," Ultra Magnus looked at something off screen, "I have to go. Good luck Optimus. May Primus be with you."

"May Primus be with all of us," Optimus said.

He and Ultra Magnus exchanged salutes, then Cybertron's side went dead. Optimus turned off the communicator.

The room was silent for a while. Saberwolf's sadness started to give way to seething anger.

"Great… Megatron's escaped and his location unknown, the Stockade's destroyed," Sari said, "And on top of it all, you guys have to leave again!"

"We still have time," Optimus said.

"Yes, but how much? How long before Megatron decides to strike," Ratchet asked.

"Let's hope we have enough time to gather all of the fragments," Optimus said.

_I know at least one that we won't be getting back…_

"I need some air," Saberwolf said.

No one stopped her as she walked out.

_Just when I thought things were getting better…_


	21. Chapter 21

**_ This chapter is for all the SaberwolfXProwl fans. I'm 100% positive you'll love it! (yes, 100%) and thanks to Autobot Fangirl for the input on this chapter! _**

**_Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers or the song "Baby It's Cold Outside"_**

* * *

**Chapter 21: Christmas**

Saberwolf woke with a start. The mattress she used for a pillow was in shreds. The walls around her had fresh marks from her claws. Saberwolf groaned.

_Go away!_

It had been a month since the news of Megatron's escape. Every night after their call to Cybertron had been haunted by horrible nightmares and memories. Saberwolf was constantly on edge. And she wasn't the only one.

The past month, Optimus had doubled, then tripled patrols. He alerted the human police and military to be on guard, and no one was allowed to go anywhere outside the base without someone else with them. The whole team was jumpy. Bumblebee had shot at a falling leaf in the park a few weeks ago when it brushed his shoulder.

And on top of all of this, Starscream was still out and about. Saberwolf had spotted him flying above the city a few solar-cycles ago. She had to tackle Ratchet into the canal so he wouldn't see. This had earned her an audio receptor full and a smack on the head. Saberwolf brushed it off and said she thought she saw a laser fire towards him.

Sneaking out for lessons with Prowl was out of the question. Prowl agreed to have the lessons in his room instead of the clearing. They would have to be careful not to make too much noise, but that was a small price to pay for security. At least in Saberwolf's mind. Prowl didn't like the arrangement.

The only good thing was that the threat of Decepticons had settled in all around the humans, keeping both paparazzi and bad guys at bay.

Currently, Saberwolf found herself pacing her room, trying to calm down. Her spark was still pounding from her nightmare. She'd only come up here for a quick recharge. She was exhausted, and hoped her fatigue would keep the nightmares at bay long enough for a power nap. But she was just as tired as she had been when she came up, if not more. Saberwolf sighed and transformed. She walked out of her room towards the stairs. She stopped at Prowl's door, wondering if he was in. She felt like talking to him. But he wasn't. Saberwolf sighed and kept walking.

Saberwolf had figured out how to tell when Prowl was in his room without having to enter. When he was there, the strong pull that she'd felt when she first joined the team was present as well. A calm aura came from the room when Prowl was there. When he wasn't, his door was just as ordinary as any other one in the plant. She'd also noticed that when he wasn't there, the atmosphere inside the room changed. The light filtered through the trees just as harshly as normal, the scent of the forest faded so it was just the minimal scent of the one oak, and Saberwolf felt out of place. Prowl carried calm with him wherever he went, it seemed.

When Saberwolf walked into the living area, she froze in shock.

The radio was on, the team looked cheerful, and Sari was hanging glass bulbs on a pine tree.

"Oh Saberwolf! You're here! Great! You can help with the decorating!" Sari said with a smile.

The team seemed transformed, and not in the usual way. The jumpy, worried bots that had been walking around the past month were gone, replaced by their normal selves. Optimus and BlackArachnia were actually playing cards again. Saberwolf noticed they were wearing Santa hats.

_What the fuck?_

"Can you believe we almost forgot about Christmas?" Bumblebee exclaimed, "It's tomorrow! And we almost missed it!"

Saberwolf suddenly understood. She'd learned about Christmas a long time ago.

Saberwolf had been so concerned about the Decepticons, she had overlooked a lot. The snow that blanketed the ground, the lights and décor that adorned the city. The happy looks on children's faces in the park as they played their favorite snow games.

_Christmas… Just what we needed._

Seeing all the others in a better mood lightened her spark a little. Bulkhead walked up to her with a box of decorations. Saberwolf accepted it with a smile and went to work.

* * *

Saberwolf could hardly contain her laughter at the way Ratchet was looking at Bumblebee and Sari.

"A party?" he asked, "You want to throw a party?"

"Come on Ratchet! We could use something to brighten our day," Sari said, "A Christmas party would be killer!"

Ratchet gave her an angry look.

"In a good way," Sari said, scratching her head.

"Come on, Doc bot! Dim lights, slow Christmas music, mistletoe… Arcee," Bumblebee said with a smirk, elbowing Ratchet.

Saberwolf was glad Arcee was decorating upstairs and out of earshot. Ratchet wore an annoyed look at first, but his expression changed as he considered what Bee had said.

"Well, I guess it couldn't hurt," Ratchet said.

Saberwolf actually laughed a bit.

"What's so funny, newbie?" Ratchet demanded.

"Nothing, Doc," Saberwolf said, "And are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"Nope."

_Figures…_

Saberwolf suddenly thought of something.

"What's mistletoe?" she asked.

It was Ratchet's turn to laugh at Saberwolf as Sari explained the rules of mistletoe.

"Tell me what it looks like so I know to stay away," Saberwolf said.

_What kind of whacked custom is that?_

* * *

After convincing Ratchet, the others were easy. After getting the go-ahead from everyone, Sari and Bumblebee started setting up the plant for the party. Saberwolf helped move furniture out of the way so there was room to dance. Sari and Bumblebee left for a little while and came back with a storage cube full of music equipment. They spent the rest of the day trying to figure it out.

Everything was ready just as the sun was setting. The team went out to watch it cast its pink rays over the snow, Professor Sumdac and Captain Fanzone joining them when they arrived. Saberwolf couldn't think of a single thing she'd seen that was more beautiful. Even Bumblebee was speechless. Just as the sun disappeared, snow began to fall. Sari showed Saberwolf how to make a snowball and soon enough a massive fight broke out. Saberwolf found herself getting quite the workout dodging Bulkhead's snow boulders. For the first time in a long while, she felt happy and relaxed. She could tell everyone else was feeling the same. There were smiles and laughter all around. Fanzone was actually smiling and laughing. Saberwolf attributed that to his "special eggnog" but was happy about it all the same.

After two mega-cycles, Sari remembered the stereo and everyone went in for the party. Professor Sumdac had to hide behind Bulkhead from a drunken Fanzone. Saberwolf laughed as she watched them. The others were learning to dance from Sari and Bumblebee and laughing at each other as they struggled with it. Saberwolf had been called over and the others were surprised at how well she danced.

"How do you know how to dance?" Bumblebee asked.

"I studied," Saberwolf said.

They all laughed at Bee's confused look. He just shook his head and went back to being the DJ.

"How do you study dancing?" Saberwolf heard him murmur to himself.

* * *

After another mega-cycle, the upbeat Christmas music stopped.

"Bumblebee?" Sari looked at him wonderingly.

"I-I was wondering if Bulk would come operate the music," he said.

Bulkhead gave a knowing look and walked over to the DJ stand and took Bee's place.

"Uh… Time to slow things down a bit, I guess," he said.

Bumblebee let Sari climb on his hand and then put her on his shoulder. Saberwolf understood. She smiled a bit. She stepped away from the dance floor.

_Slow songs mean slow dances. No thanks. Leave that to the others._

Saberwolf found a box of unused decorations and used them as her excuse for leaving. She headed towards the hall.

She rounded the corner and found herself right next to BlackArachnia and Optimus. They were standing with their heads close. Saberwolf barely had time to react to this because the couple jumped and Optimus's hands hit the box. It flew out of Saberwolf's hands and ended up flipping upside down and landing on her helm. Saberwolf lifted it off irritably.

"Saberwolf! You scared us!" Optimus said, "Sorry about the box…"

He and BlackArachnia, who was giggling, knelt to pick up the decorations that had fallen out of the box. Saberwolf rolled her optics and knelt down to clean up as well.

"No big deal," she said.

They got all the decorations back in the box and Saberwolf walked past the couple and to the stairs.

BlackArachnia called to her when she was halfway up.

"Wolf!"

Saberwolf looked back.

"What?" she asked, "Arachnid?"

Saberwolf was the only one who could call her that without her getting mad. In the past month, they had become better acquainted, and were something close to friends. They had given nicknames to each other, Wolf and Arachnid.

"You have something…" BlackArachnia lifted a hand to her helm and brushed at it as if wiping away dust.

"What?" Saberwolf was confused.

BlackArachnia's optics lit up with amusement.

"Never mind," she said with a sly smile.

Saberwolf rolled her optics again and continued up the stairs. She put the box away in one of the storage rooms and then walked towards her room. As she passed Prowl's door, she stopped. Still no Prowl. She sighed, and took a step towards her room. Then she remembered Mittens.

_Why not say Merry Christmas to her?_

Saberwolf turned and entered Prowl's room.

"Mittens?"

The cat came out when it heard its name. She came over and rubbed against Saberwolf's leg.

"Hi Mittens! Merry Christmas!" Saberwolf said, sitting down and crossing her legs, "Well, it's not quite Christmas yet…"

Saberwolf checked her internal clock. It was only eleven o'clock. Saberwolf looked up through the bare branches of the oak and saw the moon shining in through the big snow flakes. She sighed happily and stroked Mittens with her forefinger, noting how much thicker her fur was now compared to a few months ago. Mittens curled up on the cold floor and purred.

"Too bad I don't have a gift for you," Saberwolf said.

As she sat there, she heard the music from downstairs float up through the walls and floor. She soon found herself swaying to the beat. She stood and walked to the center of the room. She danced around by herself, closing her optics and listening to the music:

_I really can't stay (Baby, it's cold outside)  
I've got to go 'way (Baby, it's cold outside)  
The evening has been (I've been hopin' that you'd drop in)  
So very nice (I'll hold your hand, they're just like ice)_

Saberwolf smiled at the song. She pretended she was dancing with a mech._  
My mother will start to worry (Hey beautiful, what's your hurry)  
And father will be pacing the floor (Listen to that fireplace roar)  
So really, I'd better scurry (Beautiful, please don't hurry)  
Well, maybe just a half a drink more (Put some music on while I pour)  
_Suddenly she felt an ice cold hand slip into hers and another on the small of her back. Her optics shot open and found Prowl close to her.

"Prowl!" she said in surprise.

"Hello," Prowl said with a smile, "Care to dance?"

"Sure," Saberwolf said softly, spark pounding in its chamber.

_I oughtta say no, no, no sir (You mind if I move in closer)  
At least I'm gonna say that I tried (And what's the sense in hurting my pride)  
I really can't stay (Oh baby, don't hold out)  
Oh, but it's cold outside_

They danced perfectly, their bodies moving as one. The spun, they swayed, they smiled and laughed. Saberwolf's spark felt like it would burst out of her chassis. Her body tingled where Prowl touched her. She felt warm, but Prowl's touch cooled her. The entire time their optics were locked in a sort of staring contest._  
I simply must go (It's cold outside)  
The answer is no (Baby, it's cold outside)  
The welcome has been (So lucky that you dropped in)  
So nice and warm (Look out the window at that storm)_

Saberwolf felt blissful as they moved around the room._  
My sister will be suspicious (Your lips look delicious)  
My brother will be there at the door (I ain't worried about you brother)  
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious (That ol' biddy, she ain't gonna bother me)  
Well maybe just a cigarette more (You don't need no cigarette, it's smokin' plenty up in here)_

Saberwolf smiled as Prowl leaned his helm against hers. They stopped spinning and swayed in one spot._  
I've got to get home (Baby, you'll freeze out there)  
Say, lend me a comb (It's up to your knees out there)  
You've really been grand (I thrill when you touch my hand)  
Oh, but don't you see (How can you do this thing to me)  
There's bound to be talk tomorrow (Well, think of my lifelong sorrow)  
At least there will be plenty implied (If you caught pneumonia and died)  
I really can't stay (Get over that hold out)  
Oh, but baby it's cold outside_

Saberwolf's spark drummed. She cycled some air. She shivered, despite her hot plating, at Prowl's cold touch.

"You're a very good dancer," Prowl said.

"Thanks. I studied Earth for two years. And dancing was something I picked up easily," Saberwolf said, moving her head away from Prowl's just a little, "You're very good yourself."

"I also picked it up easily. Behind closed doors of course," Prowl said.

Saberwolf's spark was going crazy as Prowl looked her over. His optics narrowed in confusion as they settled on her helm.

"You have some sort of plant stuck to your helm," he said.

Saberwolf's faceplates warmed with embarrassment. She was about to grab at whatever it was, but Prowl got it first. He held the little plant up for her to inspect. Saberwolf's spark did a backflip when she saw what it was.

"Th-that's mistletoe," she said breathlessly.

Prowl's optics widened in surprise.

_The box of decorations… that's where it must have come from… and that explains BlackArachnia's hand movements._

"I've never seen a bit of mistletoe before," he said, "But I've heard of it. Sari told me about it…"

They exchanged an awkward glance; both were wondering what to do next.

"So…" Saberwolf said.

"So…" Prowl said.

Neither of them had moved away from each other after the dance was over. So they stood close, looking at the plant, then at each other, then back. They stayed like that for several cycles.

Finally, Prowl stopped gawking at the little plant. He stared straight at Saberwolf, and the look in his optics made her spark jump more. He slowly leaned his helm closer to hers. His optics closed. Saberwolf lifted her chin towards his, spark hammering with anticipation. She closed her optics. She felt Prowl's cold face getting closer. She could feel him cycling air. She sensed that his lips were very close to hers. He pulled her closer. Saberwolf parted her lips a little, ready to meet his.

"Saberwolf!"

Saberwolf flinched at Sari's voice. She felt Prowl tense, and knew the moment was lost. They leaned their foreheads together and sighed.

"That would be my cue to return," Saberwolf said glumly.

Her spark felt heavy. All the fluttering had fled with the moment. She sighed again as Prowl moved his head away.

_So close, yet so far…_

Then she felt Prowl's cold lips on her cheek. She shivered and her spark flipped.

"You should go then," Prowl said, as he curled her hand around something.

Saberwolf opened her optics and saw Prowl backing away with a smile.

"Merry Christmas."

And then he was gone. Everything about him gone as suddenly as he had come.

Saberwolf walked out of the room. Sari was still coming up the stairs. Saberwolf hurried over to her door. She made like she was coming out just as Sari entered the hall.

"Why are you holed up in your room?" Sari asked, "They slow dancing too much for ya?"

She had a teasing look in her optics. Saberwolf smirked.

"Something like that," she said.

"Well we're done with that now. It's time to open pre-Christmas presents. We each pick one from under the tree to open," Sari said, "It's something me and my dad do every year."

Saberwolf smiled at the impatient tradition.

"Alright. Let me just close my window," Saberwolf said.

Sari nodded and headed for the stairs.

Saberwolf walked into her room and leaned heavily on the wall. She felt as though her pedes would slip out from under her. She looked down at what Prowl had put in her hand: the mistletoe.

_My gift to Prowl, a dance. His gift to me, a kiss on the cheek and mistletoe…_

Saberwolf curled her hand around the little plant and held it over her spark chamber. She cycled some air and waited for her spark to steady some. She started to recognize what it was that made her act so strangely around Prowl. She looked up and imagined she was looking into the heavens. Or rather the Well. She smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Prowl."

* * *

Prowl's whole being was shaking with happiness. While he hadn't gotten to really kiss Saberwolf, he had had a great dance with her, and managed a kiss on the cheek. He was beaming with happiness as he returned to the well. But as he entered, he was once again bombarded with warnings.

_She's alive. It could never work!_

_You have no idea what that kind of relationship would do to both of you. _

_Could you really handle not being able to truly be with her?_

Prowl blocked the warnings.

_I'm not even sure it will come to that._

But every fiber of his being wished it would.

So he ignored the warnings and focused on being happy and hopeful. And he knew just the bot to talk to who would be supportive of that choice: His new friend Blurr.

_This really has been a great Christmas_

* * *

**_a/n: hey readers! i seriously need as many opinions as possible on my which do you prefer poll. it's super important! so please go to my profile and vote! thanks!_**


	22. Chapter 22

**_ Thanks to Autobot Fangirl for the input for this chapter. :)_**

**_disclaimer: hasbro owns transformers_**

* * *

**Chapter 22: Arguing with Myself**

Megatron watched as Shockwave put the finishing touches on their signal dampeners. They had gathered the computers and things they needed quickly, with Waspinator's help. His ability to warp wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted was already proving useful. Megatron still had to convince the bot not to kill BlackArachnia, but that would come later. Right now, he was concerned with the signal dampener, and the edge it would give them over the Autobots.

They would obviously be on edge, optics peeled and scanners searching for Decepticon activity. Their scanners at least would not pick up anything. And his warriors were very stealthy.

_Well, Waspinator and Shockwave are… Lugnut… he'll have to stay up here for now… And what has become of Blitzwing? I wonder..._

* * *

While Megatron stood on Mars wondering what had become of Blitzwing, Blitzwing was standing in the middle of the Decepticon base wondering how to keep all of the liberated Decepticons in line. Being the only Decepticon from Megatron's elite squad, he was the bot in charge. All the others were wondering where their supreme leader had disappeared to and were now questioning Blitz like crazy.

"Why would Megatron leave you of all bots in charge?" Oilslick asked.

"I don't know. Vy don't you call him and ask?" Blitzwing's icy side retorted, "Unless you're afraid, puny piece of scrap!" his angry side yelled, "Yes, yes! Call him! I vant to chat viz him!" said his crazy side.

Oilslick just shook his helm and grumbled about him being "horrible mutilated by that spider bitch."

Blitzwing's icy side returned. He rubbed his helm irritably. He was getting a major processor ache, from both his battling personalities and the stress of trying to keep things in order.

_I shouldn't be stuck viz zhis…_

"Listen up weaklings!" Blitzwing's angry side shouted.

All the arguing Decepticons quieted and looked up at him as his voice echoed off the walls. His icy strategist persona took over.

"Megatron varped us all here, zhen disappeared vithout another word. Currently, I cannot make contact, so his orders for us are not clear," Blitzwing struggled to suppress his crazy side, "However, vhat is clear is zhat ve must keep up our usual standard of excellence in his absence. Ve vill not turn into some ragtag group of criminals. Ve must keep our optics on our goal: to vanquish zhe Autobots' oppression!"

The others were now nodding their heads, optics glowing as he spoke.

"Ve are Decepticons! Ve strike fear into our enemies sparks!" Blitzwing's angry side made an appearance, words met with hollers of agreementfrom the others, but his icy side managed to get control again, "As such, ve must continue to operate just as ve alvays have. So I vill hear no more arguing amongst ourselves, nor any more questioning of authority! Is zhat clear?"

All the bots nodded.

"Good. Now zhen, our first priority is to establish contact vis Lord Megatron, so ve know vhat it is he vants us to do vhile he vorks on vhatever his is vorking on," Blitzwing said, "So I need all zhose who vork in communication to start on zhat immediately. Everyvone else…"

Blitzwing wondered what to do with the bots left over.

"Start cleaning up zhis base. It's a mess," he decided finally, "And all zhee new bots come viz me for initiation."

He couldn't contain his random side any longer.

"And vhen ve're all done, I'll make some tea and cookies for everyone!"

Blitzwing laughed hysterically.

* * *

There were quite a lot of new bots. The Decepticon armada had nearly doubled in size. Blitzwing had them all standing outside the base in a block formation.

_Zhere is no vay I can handle zhem all at vonce…_

_OH! I vant to help! I VANT TO HELP!_

_I'll straighten zhese bots out and make zhem all big and strong like me!_

_Perhaps I could split zhem up in groups and handle zhem in time slots…_

_I VANT TO PLAY TOO!_

_SHUT UP YOU PUNY FREAK SHOW!_

_Both of you quite down! … I'm having a fight viz myself… zhat is sad…_

"All right insects! Listen up!" Blizwing's fiery side said before giving way to the strategist.

_Okay… I vill split zhem up by attributes… let's see… all zhee brutes vill be in one block, zhee small scouts in anozher, the rest in a zhird._

"Brutes! Form a block to my left. Scouts! My right. Everyvone else stay center."

Blitzwing waited while they obediently split into their groups.

"Good. Now, as I am zhee only vone zhat is doing initiations and training today, I vill be splitting zhis up into time slots. Brutes first, zhen scouts, zhen zhee ozhers. Vhen you are not being vorked viz, you vill be helping zhee ozhers in zhee base. You are all recruit level. You get no say in anyzhing, and you follow orders exactly," angry Blitzwing took over for a moment, "Or I'll pummel you to a pulp! – Is zhat understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" came a chorus of voices.

"Vonderful! Let's get zhis party started!"

More hysterical laughter.

* * *

"You all zhink you are strong? I could turn you to slag heaps viz a single zhought!" Blitzwing's angry side took over the brute's training.

He currently had them doing the universal punishment. Transform-ups. There wasn't a bot in the galaxy that had NOT done a transform-up at some point in their life-cycles. And Blitzwing's angry side reveled in the painful exhaustion of the troops. They'd been going for about five cycles now, a long time for most bots.

"Enough! Stand up insects!" Blitz said.

The bots sighed in relief as they stood. Blitz noticed a small bot that was standing at the end of the line. He barely came up to the knee of the bot next to him, and was as thin as the Autobot called Blurr.

"You! Vhat are you doing here, little piece of scrap? You're no brute! Get out of here before I put so many dents in you, the medics vill not know vhat to do!"

The little mech scowled and stepped over in front of the mammoth of a mech a few rows back. He lifted the bot over his head in one fluid movement and threw him about one hundred meters.

All the bots stared in awe as the little mech walked back to his spot.

"Very vell zhen," Blitz looked over at the mech that was thrown.

He was getting up stiffly. He had no anger in his optics, just shock and respect. He went back to his spot.

The rest of the two mega-cycles slotted for the brutes was spent with various physical tests and lessons.

When the next time slot rolled around, Blitzwing had managed to gain control of his angry side. He paced in front of the scouts, ready to teach them what being a Decepticon scout would entail.

"So you are all here to become Decepticon scouts. Zhis means you must be stealthy. You must be smart. Strengz is not on your side, so you must be able to combat your opponents viz skill, and smarts. Zhat is vhat I am here to teach you. You vill listen to vhat I tell you and you vill learn quickly, or you vill be kicked out on your ass!"

The bots flinched at his cold tone and icy glare. But they nodded their heads and looked eager to learn.

"Very good. Let's get started."

Blitz managed to keep control of his other two personalities for the entire two mega-cycles.

Unfortunately, after being ignored for four mega-cycles, his random mode felt an extreme need to "play" and took up a position of dominance over the others. He was the one to greet the third block of recruits.

"Hello kiddies! You vill be very happy to see vhat ve'll be doing today!"

The group gave him odd looks. Some seemed amused, others horrified, and still others completely confused.

"Oh Soundvave! Could you come out here please?" Blitz called into the base.

Soundwave had been in the Stockade as well, with his two pets in another cell. Soundwave had explained how this had happened to Blitzwing while helping to establish communication with Megatron. Apparently the mech had been created on Earth as a child's toy, then upgraded by the AllSpark Key into a self-aware bot. he was recruited by Megatron and upgraded. In a skirmish with the Autobots he had been defeated and returned to his original form, but his pet Laserbeak managed to save him and take him to Junkion, where he was re-upgraded. Unfortunately, the Decepticon symbol on his chest, combined with the assault of an Autobot officer, had gotten him thrown in the Stockade.

Now he walked up the stairs from the underground base and stood before Blitzwing.

"Yes Blitzwing."

His monotone voice made even questions seem like statements.

"Vill you be a dear and play some nice music for us? Somezing viz a good beat."

Soundwave sighed, but knew better than to question one of Megatron's elite soldiers. He told Laserbeak, who had been sitting on his shoulder, to transform. Laserbeak became a guitar and Soundwave began to play. Blitzwing squealed with pleasure.

"Perfect! Now everyvone, I vant you to copy my movements exactly! Don't vorry if you get lost. Ve have an entire two mega-cycles to vork on it!"

Blitzwing laughed and started performing his best dancing. The recruits didn't move. They just stood there and gawked at him.

"Dancing lessons? Is he serious?" a blue femme said.

"If you don't dance, I vill hurt you!" Blitzwing chanted with a laugh.

These recruits had seen the physical labor he'd dished out to the brutes. They started dancing along right away.

* * *

"Now zhat you have all successfully completed zhee training I had prepared, you are now ready to be officially initiated into zhee Decepticon ranks. Now, repeat after me: I pledge my unquestioning loyalty to Megatron and zhee Decepticon cause…"

"I pledge my unquestioning loyalty to Megatron and the Decepticon cause." A chorus of voices echoed Blitzwing.

"I shall devote my spark to achieving our goal of a Decepticon controlled Cybertron, by any means necessary…"

"I shall devote my spark to achieving our goal of a Decepticon controlled Cybertron, by any means necessary."

"And annihilate all who have driven us from our rightful home world."

"And annihilate all who have driven us from our rightful home world."

"Surrender is not an option."

"Surrender is not an option."

"Velcome to zhee Decepticons."

Blitzwing looked proudly at the work he had done.

_My scouts are superior._

_Are you kidding? Just one of by brutes could crush all of zhose scouts!_

_My kiddies are even better zhan zhat! Hahaha!_

"Zhee scouts are smarter and faster!"

"Zhee brutes are stronger and bigger!"

"Zhee ozhers are fun and happy!"

Blitzwing's argument had escaped from his head. The three groups looked at them in confusion.

"Zhee scouts could collect information quickly, while running circles around zhee brutes at zhee same time!"

The scouts gave the brutes superior looks and jeered at them.

"Zhee brutes could grind zhem to a pulp!"

The brutes cracked their knuckles and glared at the scouts.

"Zhee others vill knock everyvone's socks off with zheir talent!"

"Zhee scouts are zhee best!"

"Zhee brutes are!"

"My kiddies are the best-EST! Ah-haha-ha-haaa!

The three groups of recruits started arguing amongst themselves.

"Decepticons—attack—and conquer! HAHAHAHA!" Blitzwing cried.

The three groups started their assault on one another.

* * *

Megatron wandered the surface of Mars in deep thought.

_The Autobots know I have escaped. That much I know without a doubt._

Megatron chuckled.

_More than escaped. I turn that place to rubble… That being the case, I must tread carefully with my plans. I can't have the Autobots knowing where I am. They're no doubt expecting me. So they'll be on the lookout for any Decepticon activity… And they'll be gearing up to leave the planet as soon as possible, so I don't have a very big window of opportunity… And there are multiple things I must deal with while on Earth. Or in its vicinity rather. The AllSpark, for one, cannot have been fully reformed. It may have had enough power to stop me, but it still isn't at full power. The Autobots will be working on that, but I have no idea as to how far they are on that. And BlackArachnia needs to be found and dealt with. She's got much too long of a leash and her past still looms over her. While right now it makes her vengeful, it could very well cause her to want her old life back. Meaning she may cave to Prime, her former flame… I cannot have that._

Megatron hated the thought of one of his best scientists returning to the Autobots. She knew things about all the Decepticons that could give the Autobots the upper hand.

_She knows all our special attributes. Our strengths and weaknesses. She could use her knowledge of Blitzwing to help the Autobots create their own triple changer, but with less kinks and glitches. And her knowledge of all of our scientific achievements… the Autobots must not know any of it. Especially how to control cosmic rust… That could be disastrous. And then there's Saberwolf. My plans for her… could severely interfere with my plans for Optimus and his team…_

Megatron sighed and rubbed his aching helm. He stopped and tried to sort through things. As he stood, he looked up at the stars. He saw a small ship approaching.

_Ah, Swindle. You've arrived at last._

* * *

The battle had raged for mega-cycles. None of the bots had killed each other, only majorly injured. Blitzwing's personalities had been going crazy. He had been switching from one to the other rapidly, calling out orders. Amazingly, crazy Blitzwing's bots were doing well. It appeared the dance moves doubled as highly effective combat moves. Blitzwing's crazy side kept shouting "I told you so!"

"Scouts! Use your vits!"

"Brutes! Crunch zhem down into scrap metal!"

"Dance, dance, DANCE!"

Blitzwing laughed hysterically. He was severely going off the deep end.

The battle was interrupted when Soundwave walked out of the base again.

"We have established communication with Megatron."

All the fighting stopped. Hearing Megatron's name made Blitzwing's personalities all stop. His icy side took its usual place of dominance again. He cleared his throat deliberately.

"All of you bots go see zhee medics. Zhen get back to helping zhee ozhers clean up zhee base," he commanded, "While I tend to some urgent business."

Blitzwing felt embarrassed as he followed Soundwave to the com screen.

"Lord Megatron," he knelt as he greeted his lord.

"Ah, Blitzwing. I assume you've done well in keeping the base in order in my absence?"

"I… I have zhee Decepticons cleaning up right now," Blitzwing reported, "And I initiated some new recruits earlier."

"Very good. I'm glad to see you've taken charge. But you won't have to worry about that anymore. Thanks to Swindle, I was able to set up long range communications and call an old soldier to keep watch over the base. I need you here, and he has decided to come out of his well-deserved retirement to keep all of the others in line," Megatron said, "Scourge should be arriving shortly."

Everyone stopped what they were doing at once, looking up at the screen in horror.

There wasn't a Decepticon in the universe who didn't know Scourge. The ruthless bot led many attacks on the Autobots, all of which were successful. And he hated when bots were out of line. Blitzwing shuddered.

_I'm glad I vill be viz Megatron and not here._

_Me too._

_Here, here!_

"I'm sure the bots there can handle themselves for a few mega-cycles," Megatron said, "As they know the consequences if Scourge were to show up and see chaos."

"Yes. I zhink zhey are capable of zhat," Blitzwing said.

"Good. Our new friend Waspinator will be arriving now to pick you up," Megatron said, "I'll see you when you get here."

Just as he hung up, a ball of blue light appeared in the room and a big bot materialized. He was tall and green and had wide shoulders. He had purple bug wings and a big wasp head for a chest. His bot head had antennas and looked very wasp-like itself.

"Ah, so zhis is zhee bot who varped us avay from zhee Stockade." Bliztwing said, looking him over, "Oh joy, anozher techno-organic."

"A big, strong techno-organic with powerful electricity," Waspinator warned, hands sparking.

Blitzwing suppressed his angry side.

"Very vell zhen," he said, "Let's get going."

In the time it took to blink, they were standing on Mars.

* * *

Megatron met his strategist with a smile.

"Welcome back Blitzwing. I have some things that I need help planning. Help from my best strategist," he said.

"Oooh! Are ve planning a party? I vanna help! I VANNA HELP!" Blitzwing's crazy side said eagerly.

Shockwave looked up, optics filled with concern.

"Megatron, may I speak with you?" he asked, looking at Blitzwing, "Privately."

Megatron thought for a moment, then waved Blitzwing away. Blitzwing walked over to Lugnut. Megatron watched as the two friends greeted each other, then turned to Shockwave.

"What is it?"

"I would not normally question you my liege, but do you really think it's wise to consult Blitzwing?" Shockwave asked, "These are delicate plans, and ever since BlackArachnia's experiments he's been… different."

"Her experiments took place long ago, and Blitzwing has been in on many a plan since then," Megatron reminded, "This will be no different."

Shockwave looked like he was about to question him again, but thought better of it.

"Of course, my liege."

Megatron turned back to Blitzwing.

"Come Blitzwing," he called, "We have a party to plan."


	23. Chapter 23

**_A long chapter. My brother wanted me to bring in the Dinobots and this chapter and the next (it was waay too long to be one chapter) were born. Seriously, all my brother said was "put the Dinobots in a chapter" and the rest just flowed out as i typed. hope you enjoy! :)_**

**_Disclaimer: Hasbro owns transformers. not me. so please, don't sue me. lol_**

* * *

**Chapter 23: Dino Problem**

Saberwolf wandered the base in wolf mode, staring out windows at the snow covered ground. She stopped at one of the windows and put her paws up on the sill to get a better look. She tilted her head and watched as big snowflakes fell on a branch of the oak. The snow piled up too thick for the branch to hold and bent down. The pile of snow fell off and the branch flicked back into place quickly.

_I'm watching snow fall on tree branches._

"I'm so bored!" she shouted out loud, pushing away from the window forcefully.

She had to jump to her left to avoid hitting BlackArachnia.

"Hey! Watch it!" BlackArachnia said irritably.

"Well what are you doing pacing the hallway?" Saberwolf asked, also irritated.

"Isn't that what you're doing?"

Saberwolf narrowed her optics.

"Yes, but I'm bored," Saberwolf said.

BlackArachnia stopped glaring and laughed.

"You too?" she asked, sitting down on the floor and leaning against a wall, "Yeah, I guess pacing is the only thing to do when you're bored."

"And stuck inside because of snow," Saberwolf said with a sigh, lying down next to BlackArachnia.

They were silent for a while, BlackArachnia staring off in a random direction and Saberwolf closing her optics and putting her head in her paws. She sensed BlackArachnia's hand hovering over her head.

"Don't even think about it," she said.

"You let Sari pet you!" BlackArachnia protested.

"That's Sari. You're you. It's different," Saberwolf said.

"You let Bumblebee pet you!"

"No I don't. Bumblebee tried to once and I bit him," Saberwolf said.

"Oh. Never mind then."

Saberwolf sighed.

"We're stuck inside because of some lousy flakes of frozen water," she said, "How sad is that?"

BlackArachnia gasped. Saberwolf opened her optics and looked up at her. She looked like she had an idea.

"They are, but we aren't!" BlackArachnia said.

"What?"

"The others can't go anywhere because they can't drive on the ice. And walking everywhere would be tiresome," BlackArachnia said.

"Yeah. And?"

"Well, we walk in our alternate modes, so we're used to it. And we can walk on ice," BlackArachnia said, optics lit up with excitement, "So we can travel around the city as we please! We're behind on scouting because of the storm anyway, so convincing Optimus to let us go will be a cinch!"

Saberwolf thought about it.

"That sounds great!" she said, "Although I'm pretty sure you could convince Optimus of anything just cuz."

BlackArachnia laughed.

"Yes, I suppose I could. But I wouldn't do that. I save my charm for… other things," she said whimsically.

"And the topic changes there!" Saberwolf said.

BlackArachnia laughed. Saberwolf stood.

"Come on, let's go ask," she said.

* * *

Saberwolf laughed as she burrowed around in the snow. They had stopped in the park because she saw a big snow drift and couldn't help herself. She popped her head out now and then to see BlackArachnia shaking her head and watching with amusement.

"Who knew Saberwolf could be a little kid," BlackArachnia said.

"Shut up!"

BlackArachnia just laughed.

"I like snow, okay?" Saberwolf said.

But it was more than that to her. Ever since Christmas she'd been in a better mood. Everyone at the base said it was the Christmas spirit. Saberwolf knew it was Prowl. The past week had been both awkward and amazing. They had their lessons, but afterward, Prowl stuck around to chat with her. She got to learn more about him, and she dared to tell him more about her. Not too in depth, as she hadn't told him about Kup or the Decepticons, but she did tell him about her adventures she'd had on Earth before Megatron showed up. She also told him about some of the things she'd done after ditching the Decepticons. It mostly consisted of combat training, but some of the things were more upbeat. Like partying on Junkion. There was a lot of oil involved in those stories.

Their time together had made her feel increasingly better. She actually walked around the base feeling content, rather than jumpy or irritated. She actually went about enjoying things for a change. It was nice not having a heavy spark all the time. Even her nightmares were fading to things of the past.

So she let herself frolic and enjoy herself. It was a nice break, and she felt she deserved one.

"Come on! Try it! There's plenty of snow and it's really fun!" she said to BlackArachnia.

She was poking her head out from the window of a small cave she'd made.

"We are supposed to be scouting," BlackArachnia said.

Saberwolf thought for a moment.

"Well then help me scout the snow for Decepticon threats!"

This made both of them laugh. Saberwolf crawled out from her cave and transformed into robot mode. She scooped up some snow and made a snowball.

"Don't you dare," BlackArachnia warned.

Saberwolf hit her in the shoulder. BlackArachnia narrowed her optics and scooped up some snow.

"All right then, this means war," she said.

Saberwolf smirked and got another ball ready. She was just about to throw it when she heard a roar in the distance. She stopped to listen and ended up with a face full of snow. Another ball hit her in the chest and then BlackArachnia was behind her, pushing her into a drift of snow with a laugh.

"Gotcha!"

"Wait stop! Don't make a noise!" Saberwolf said, brushing the snow away and standing back up.

She shook the snow out from under visor and off her audio receptors. She listened for the roar again and heard it clearly, just a few miles away.

"You hear that?" she asked.

"Hear what?"

"That roaring. Like a… dinosaur? I thought Dino Drive was closed?"

BlackArachnia suddenly looked nervous.

"I don't think that's Dino Drive," BlackArachnia said.

"Then what could it—" Saberwolf's optics widened, "The Dinobots."

"Exactly."

"They're… friendly, right?" Saberwolf asked.

"Not in the slightest," BlackArachnia said with a sigh, "Lead the way."

The two femmes transformed and Saberwolf took off towards the sounds.

They found the Dinobots walking down Main Street, breathing fire and melting snow. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing being touched by the fire. Cars were exploding in their wake, causing the surrounding humans to panic. Luckily they were being smart and abandoning their cars. Saberwolf shuddered as she caught a draft carrying the scent of the first cars that were torched. She swore she could smell human flesh burning. BlackArachnia transformed and the look in her optics said she could smell it too. They looked hesitantly into one of the first cars and saw two blackened bodies.

"Oh, Grimlock," she said, looking forlornly at the corpses, "What have you done?"

Saberwolf growled and glared at the raging dinosaurs.

"I'll kill them!" she spat.

Ignoring BlackArachnia's warnings, she charged at them. The snow made her barely audible footfall even quieter, so even she could barely hear them.

She snuck up right behind the tyrannosaurus and jumped on him transforming and drawing her katana at the same time. She landed square on his back and stabbed it into his right haunch. He roared in pain and reared up. Saberwolf held tight to her blade and stopped the energy flow so it stayed firmly in his haunch.

"Saberwolf! Be careful! They're mindless! That makes them very dangerous!" BlackArachnia shouted.

The other two Dinobots turned at her voice. The triceratops snarled and the pteranodon screeched. Saberwolf saw them turn, but couldn't look at what they were doing because Grimlock started shaking his body like crazy to get her off. Saberwolf's feet slipped out from underneath her as he reared up and started running.

"GET OFF ME GRIMLOCK!" Grimlock screamed.

He slammed his side into a concrete building. Saberwolf managed to tuck her body up and regain her footing on his back before her legs were crushed between his body and the building. She knelt on his back and held on to the hilt of her blade with both hands.

"How are you still running with this thing stabbing into you like this?" she asked, not expecting an answer.

Grimlock slammed into another building and Saberwolf was jostled so much one of her hands slipped. She dangled off of Grimlock's shoulder and felt her hand slipping.

"Fuck!"

Grimlock shook himself again, more forcefully. Saberwolf's hand slipped completely and she went flying up into the air. She saw a concrete building approaching fast and she twisted so she hit it with her feet. She sprung off the wall and did a tuck and roll to soften her landing on the hard ice over the road. She looked up and saw Grimlock turning towards her. His optics were glowing red and he looked really angry.

_Red? That can't be right. Everyone said their optics were blue…_

She heard BlackArachnia scream and looked up to see her being lifted high into the sky by the pteranodon. Its optics were red as well, and so were the triceratops's. Saberwolf dodged a fire blast from Grimlock and ran towards him. She jumped and vaulted off of his head to get on top of a building. From there she jumped from rooftop to rooftop until she was close to where the pteranodon was flying. He was way too far up for her to reach though. Saberwolf watched as he flew higher, BlackArachnia struggling the whole way.

"Swoop! What the fuck are you doing?" she shouted, "I'm your friend! Let me go! Put me down right now!"

"Okay," the pteranodon said.

BlackArachnia's optics widened as he let go of her.

"NOT RIGHT THIS SECOND!" BlackArachnia screamed.

"Oh shit!" Saberwolf exclaimed.

She watched closely as BlackArachnia fell. She calculated where she would fall and how fast and backed up on the rooftop. She waited a few Nano-clicks, then ran at full speed and leapt off the building. She met BlackArachnia exactly in the spot she'd calculated and tackled her onto a lower rooftop. They landed roughly, and Saberwolf heard a wet crunching sound as they landed. Their momentum caused them to roll across the concrete but the rooftop was wide enough that they stopped before tumbling off the other side.

"OWW!" BlackArachnia screamed, holding her arm close to her chest.

"What? What's wrong?" Saberwolf said, crawling out from under BlackArachnia.

BlackArachnia flinched as she examined her arm. It was scraped up badly, as was a lot of her body. Saberwolf herself was now covered in scratches from the concrete rooftop.

"I think it's broken," BlackArachnia said through gritted denta.

Saberwolf looked closer and saw that BlackArachnia's forearm was bent in a sort of unnatural S shape.

_Shit…_

"Well it beats going splat on the street, right?"

BlackArachnia just glared at her, tears forming in her optics.

"I have webs I could have used to save myself!" BlackArachnia pointed out.

"In theory. Realistically, your reaction time was too slow. You hadn't even turned yourself around to see how fast you were falling," Saberwolf said, "I did you a favor, so be grateful all you ended up with was a broken arm. And you probably wouldn't have broken it if you hadn't stiffened up as we landed!"

"It's called bracing yourself for impact!"

"That actually causes _more_ injury! You lock your body in a stiff position. It's real easy to break stuff when it's stiff or brittle."

BlackArachnia just huffed and sat up.

"Oww…" she said as she looked up Swoop.

Saberwolf followed her gaze and saw the pteranodon fly after Grimlock. Grimlock was still trying to shake the sword out of his haunch.

"What the hell is wrong with them?" BlackArachnia asked, "They've never attacked me before. Not even when I attacked them…"

"I don't fucking know!" Saberwolf said, "How the hell would I know that?"

BlackArachnia made an irritated noise.

"It was a rhetorical question!"

"Oh."

"You're a real jackass sometimes," BlackArachnia said, shaking her helm.

"Time to call Prime?" Saberwolf asked, ignoring BlackArachnia's statement.

"Yeah, I think so," BlackArachnia said.

Saberwolf turned on her communicator and accessed Optimus's frequency.

"Saberwolf to Prime."

"I'm here," Optimus said, "What do you need?"

"Some backup. The Dinobots are on a rampage down Main Street. They… they're destroying cars," Saberwolf said.

_He'll find out about what else they destroyed soon enough…_

"Not again… We'll get there as soon as we can. Try not to let any humans get injured. You guys will have to keep them occupied for a while. It'll take us a while to get to Main Street on foot. And unfortunately driving's out of the question," Optimus said.

"Yeah. I figured as much…"

"Good luck. And don't do anything rash!"

"Got it. See ya soon, Boss Bot."

Saberwolf had picked up on Bumblebee's and Bulkhead's term. She hung up the communicator and turned to BlackArachnia.

"They'll be a while, won't they?" she asked.

"Yep."

"Joy."

Saberwolf jumped down off of the building, rolling to absorb the impact. BlackArachnia climbed down carefully. She made a sling out of a web to hold her broken arm close to her chest. Then she shot a big ball of web at the Dinobots. It expanded when it hit Grimlock's tail so that it fell over all of them. They struggled for a moment, but Swoop's wings cut through the web easily and soon enough they were all out. They turned on the two femmes and roared and growled and screeched. Then they transformed and drew blazing weapons. Grimlock drew a sword, the triceratops a club, and Swoop a flail.

"Oh shit," Saberwolf said.

The pteranodon still had wings in his robot mode, and he flew at them swinging the flail over his head. Saberwolf jumped out of the way, and BlackArachnia did too. Swoop turned around and screeched.

"Me Swoop say you bad bots hold still so me Swoop can smash you!"

"Not a chance, you glorified dodo bird!" Saberwolf shouted as she lunged at Swoop.

She dodged his flail as he threw it at her and swiped out at his wing with her hand, hearing the sizzle as the plating burned.

"OOOWWW!" Swoop cried out in pain as he clutched his wing.

"Aw, did that hurt?" Saberwolf asked in a babying tone.

Swoop nodded.

"Good!" Saberwolf jumped towards him and hit him rapidly with some of the moves Prowl had taught her.

Swoop fell to the ground unable to move. BlackArachnia looked at Saberwolf in awe.

"You know Crystalocution?" she asked.

"A little," Saberwolf said.

_I'm still learning…_

Saberwolf heard a laser charging and looked up just in time to dodge a blast from the triceratops.

"Lasers? I thought they were primitive!" Saberwolf shouted to BlackArachnia.

"Well, that one has a tri-beam laser in its alternate head," BlackArachnia said.

"That's great to know," Saberwolf said, shaking her helm.

She assessed the sturdy triceratops bot and realized his armor was too thick for Crystalocution to be affective.

_Plan B._

Saberwolf transformed and rushed towards the bot. She was a little off without her tail, but she was still able to gather a lot of speed. She jumped and transformed again, pulling her glowing arms into fists. She used her momentum and energy blades to deal a crippling punch. The triceratops fell to the ground and roared in pain covering his face with his hands.

_Just one more…_

Saberwolf scanned the area for him and found he'd gotten past her while she was distracted by the others. He was now charging BlackArachnia. She again reacted slowly and didn't dodge his fire completely. She screamed and fell into the snow as her right foot was burned. But she recovered quickly and turned to face Grimlock.

"Grimlock, stop!" she said firmly, "You know me. You don't want to hurt me. Something's making you go crazy. You have to snap out of it!"

_He's got a pea brain! How will he be able to snap out of anything?_

Saberwolf started running back towards them, but Grimlock got to BlackArachnia before Saberwolf could reach to tackle her out of the way. Saberwolf flinched away as BlackArachnia disappeared from sight.

Saberwolf heard a strange beeping, noise, followed by static and the sounds of some bot's system's slowing down. She hesitantly opened her optics and saw Grimlock fall to the ground and had to adjust her footing so she wouldn't fall when he hit. BlackArachnia's stingers glowed for a moment, then faded back to normal. She stood taller and seemed to have more vigor. While Saberwolf was puzzling over this, the other Dinobots were recovering. Saberwolf turned and looked at them with disbelief.

"What does it take to down these guys?"

"Let's try fighting fire with fire," BlackArachnia said, optics narrowing.

Saberwolf watched in shock and awe as BlackArachnia shot fire from her mouth, while noting that it looked somewhat ridiculous. Swoop jumped in front of the triceratops and shot his own blast of fire. The two flares met and burned each other out. BlackArachnia readied to shoot another flame, but then she cried out in pain and gripped her helm.

"Agh! What the fuck?" she shouted.

Saberwolf was about to kneel and examine her, but BlackArachnia stood up quickly and swung her arm out at Saberwolf. Saberwolf ducked to dodge the blades on her arm.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" Saberwolf said angrily.

BlackArachnia swung at Saberwolf once more, than gripped her helm and shook.

"NO! Agh! Now I see why the Dinobots are rampaging! Something's messing with their processor!" BlackArachnia said, voice filled with pain, "And I must have accidently downloaded it along with Grimlock's power!"

BlackArachnia drew a sharp breath through her denta and hissed. She glared at Saberwolf, blood red optics turning to a more orange color. She swung at Saberwolf again and Saberwolf grabbed her good arm and spun around her, pinning it behind her back.

"Fight it, dammit!" Saberwolf shouted.

"I'm… trying!" BlackArachnia's voice sounded strained, "It should fade when the download does…"

Saberwolf looked at the Dinobots readying their weapons.

"How long will that be?"

"I don't know! It's different every time! Ahhh!" BlackArachnia started struggling and hissing.

Saberwolf pushed her into a snowdrift. She pulled some stasis cuffs out of her storage cube, slapped them around BlackArachnia's good wrist, and activated the stasis lock. She then pulled BlackArachnia out of the snowdrift and out her in a sitting position on the ground.

"Then sit there and wait!" she said.

Saberwolf turned back to the Dinobots and saw Grimlock recovering from his little nap. He looked even angrier now.

_I can't handle all of them at once!_

Saberwolf called Optimus again.

"How long 'til you get here, Prime?" she asked when he answered.

"Another five cycles or so, why?"

"I don't know if we can last five cycles!" Saberwolf said exasperatedly, "BlackArachnia downloaded some kind of virus or something when she took Grimlock's power, cool ability by the way, and is going as crazy as they are! And now I have to deal with the three of them by myself!"

"Bumblebee and Sari are a few minutes ahead of the rest of us. Think you can hold on until they get there?"

"Don't think I have much of a choice!"

"No, I suppose not. Just hang in there! Prime out."

Saberwolf sighed and hung up. She wondered if she'd be able to get her katana from Grimlock's haunch, now his shoulder, without getting caught in their flames.

_"Don't do anything rash,"_ Optimus's warning echoed in her head.

_Dammit…_

Saberwolf let energy flow into both of her forearms, turning them to blades. She readied herself to fight like hell, but before she could do anything, a loud siren sounded, distracting the Dinobots. Saberwolf looked down the street and saw a big robot charging towards the Dinobots. It looked like a pimped out police drone, with snow tires and bigger guns and a red and white paint color.

Saberwolf cocked her head at it, trying to figure out what the hell it was doing. She watched in awe as it shot at the Dinobots, then rolled straight up to Grimlock and stuck him with a giant cattle prod. Grimlock started shaking like crazy. The electricity overloaded him and he fell to the ground, unconscious. The drone did the same to the other two. Saberwolf felt her jaw fall open and snapped it shut.

She heard footsteps and saw that Bumblebee and Sari had arrived just in time to see what the drone had done.

"What the…?" Bumblebee said, optics wide.

Saberwolf turned to Sari.

"I thought police drones were programmed so they never engaged in fights unless they're ninety percent sure they'll win," she asked.

"Yeah… Well this one must have been that sure," Sari said.

"Or, it was programmed to charge straight into conflict even if the odds are against it," said a new, male voice.

Saberwolf looked in the direction of the voice and saw a short, stout middle aged man with sunken eyes walking up the street, carrying a remote in his hand.

"Powell?" Sari and Bumblebee said in unison.

Sari's optics narrowed and she crossed her arms.

"What do you want?" she said in a tone that almost made Saberwolf flinch.

"I'm helping neutralize a threat, with the help of my company's newest creation, the Hero-Bot 3000," the man called Powell said, "programmed to challenge adversity no matter what the odds, but equipped with enough gear that the odds are pretty good. For the Hero-Bot of course. And it's completely remote controlled."

Sari eyed the man suspiciously.

"Really? And how exactly did you know there was a threat here?" Sari asked, "I thought you lived a little closer to uptown."

"I can see quite a lot from my high-rise," Powell said, "Besides, these Dinobots aren't exactly subtle or stealthy."

Sari just glared.

"What does it matter anyway? And why are you asking me questions like I did something wrong? I just saved your friends there from being melted!" Powell said.

Saberwolf's optics narrowed.

"I can handle myself," Saberwolf said coldly, "And BlackArachnia as well."

Powell gave her a skeptical look. Saberwolf decided she didn't like him.

Optimus and the others arrived just then. They looked at the Hero-Bot keeping watch over the Dinobots in shock.

"What happened?" Optimus asked.

"My Hero-Bot just took care of all of those pesky Dinobots before they turned your friend there to scrap," Powell said with superiority.

Saberwolf growled in irritation.

"I said I could handle myself!" she repeated harshly.

It was Powell's turn to receive skeptical looks.

"You built something that actually helps people?" Ratchet asked, crossing his arms.

"Yes! And it's a good thing too! These monsters were about to destroy most of the city!" Powell said.

Before anyone could say anything further, BlackArachnia cried out in pain. Optimus's head snapped into the direction of her voice and in a Nano-click he was at her side. Ratchet and Sari rushed over, the other Autobots trailing behind. BlackArachnia moaned in pain, then sighed in relief. Saberwolf watched her optics fade from the strange orange back to their normal color and knew the download had faded.

"What's wrong?" Optimus asked, voice full of concern.

"Oh you know, another download gone wrong," BlackArachnia said with a weak smile.

Saberwolf took the stasis cuffs off of her wrist so she could move. BlackArachnia shifted and sat in a more comfortable position and put her hand on her helm.

"Primus…" she said, "Talk about a processor ache…"

"What happened? Specifically," Optimus's optics were full of worry.

BlackArachnia looked up at him and smiled.

"I'm okay, really," she reassured, "I tried to download Grimlock's power and got a bit of whatever virus is causing them to rampage. It was weird, all I wanted to do was destroy stuff. Mostly cars and robots. And anyone who got in my way, I just wanted to crush… And it made my head hurt like a bitch!"

BlackArachnia put her hand on her helm again. Ratchet scanned her to make sure nothing was wrong.

"Well it looks like you're fine now, except for your arm," Ratchet said, extending is optic scope and unwrapping the web sling to examine her arm, "That's a pretty bad break. You broke it in two places. How'd you manage that?"

BlackArachnia narrowed her optics and pointed at Saberwolf with her good hand. Saberwolf sighed irritably.

"Again, it beats going SPLAT on the ice!" she said, "You don't have—"

"Fast enough reflexes, yes we've gone over it," BlackArachnia said, "But it still hurt like hell!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down and fill us in!" Ratchet said.

"Swoop carried her way up in the air and then dropped her," Saberwolf explained, "I jumped up on the rooftops and jumped towards her, tackling her onto another building. The landing was rough and she broke her arm when she landed. She wouldn't have broken it as bad if she hadn't stiffened up."

BlackArachnia huffed and gave Saberwolf an annoyed glare. Saberwolf rolled her optics. Ratchet snapped her arm back to a normal shape and splinted it. BlackArachnia screamed in pain and punched his shoulder with her other arm.

"OW!" Ratchet glared at BlackArachnia, "I'm trying to help you here! That should hold you until we get back to the base! Now put a sling back on it."

BlackArachnia tucked her arm close to her and carefully wrapped her webs around it as a sling again.

"Someone gonna call the cops and have them take these monsters to be melted down?" Powell asked as he walked over.

Optimus's optics narrowed.

"No one's being melted down. BlackArachnia just said they have a virus that's causing them to go crazy," he said.

"And they don't have big enough brains to fight it," Saberwolf added.

Ratchet walked over to Grimlock and examined him and the others closely.

"Aha!" he said as he pulled something off of the back of Grimlock's neck.

He walked over to the other two and pulled something from their necks as well.

"Microchips," he said, "Stuck into the back of their necks. Other than these, there doesn't appear to be anything else wrong with them. They get a clean bill of health. Except for Newbie's sword being stuck into Grimlock's shoulder. Luckily it didn't do much damage…"

Ratchet gave Saberwolf a stern look. Saberwolf just shrugged. Ratchet sighed and shook his helm as he did a quick analysis of the chips.

"Definitely carrying some kind of virus. And they're Earth technology, not Cybertronian. That rules out Decepticons" he said.

"What human would be dumb enough to make these bot rage through the city?" Powell asked.

Saberwolf saw something flash in his eyes as he spoke. She couldn't quite identify what it was though.

"I don't know, but we need to take these to the police for further investigation. As for the Dinobots," Optimus said, "Bulkhead and Bumblebee will take them back to Dinobot Island."

"Aww!" Bumblebee said dejectedly.

He pouted as he followed Bulkhead over to the Dinobots. Optimus turned to Powell.

"How did you know to come out here?" he asked.

"Like I told Miss Sumdac, I could see the explosions from my high-rise," Powell said.

"And you just happened to have one of your bots in the parking garage?" Ratchet asked.

"Actually, yes I did."

Optimus's optics narrowed in suspicion.

"You'd better come with us to the police station. Just to tell them what you saw," Optimus said.

"Why? I told you!" Powell protested.

"Yes but isn't it a human custom for the police to get witness testimonials themselves, not through a third party?"

Powell huffed and crossed his arms.

"Fine."

Saberwolf looked Powell over. She didn't trust him, despite the fact that his Hero-Bot _had_ saved her. She wouldn't have gotten out of that situation by herself without serious injury. But that didn't mean Saberwolf was going to let anyone know that, or that Powell was a good person. Saberwolf had heard Sari's stories about him, and, now that she'd met him, she had no doubts about their validity. Saberwolf found it too convenient that he had this new bot of his ready right away when the Dinobots were raging.

_Well, not right away, but still, he had it equipped for snow and ice and everything. There's something fishy about this…_

She walked over to Bumblebee, who was trying to get her sword out of Grimlock's shoulder, and removed it swiftly and with ease. Just as she had on Sentinel's ship four stellar-cycles ago.

"That's a weird sword," Bumblebee said.

"Custom made," Saberwolf said as she put it on her back and walked back over to the others.

"Ready?" Optimus asked the group.

They all nodded. Powell was now riding on the shoulder of his Hero-Bot.

_Lazy ass…_

The walk to the police station was long. It took thirty cycles to get there as they were all on foot. Optimus and the other vehicle bots were tired from running all the way to Main Street from the base, which hampered their speed now even more.

When they finally got to the police station, they found Captain Fanzone cursing and grumbling as he tried to put snow tires on his little compact car. Saberwolf laughed and Arcee knelt down to help him. She ended up taking over for him and doing a very good job. Fanzone thanked her when she was done and gave her a rag to wipe the grease off of her fingers with. Then he turned to face the other Autobots.

"I'm glad you're here. We just got done putting better grade snow tires and chains on our vehicles and drones and we could use your help stopping those Dinobots terrors," he said, "We've gotten about a million calls, but we couldn't even pull out of the damn station! This fucking snow and ice is terrible! Basic snow tires alone ain't helpin' one bit. Not even our SUVs were able to get out. Stupid snow…"

"Actually, the Dinobots have already been handled," Powell said, climbing down the arm of his Hero-Bot.

"Oh, hello Mr. Powell," Fanzone said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms in distaste.

"My new Hero-Bot 3000 made sure those pesky Dinobots won't want to return to our fine city," Powell said proudly.

"Oh really now," Fanzone said disbelievingly, "And since when do you make machines that actually do good?"

"Since now," Powell said, "Ask that Autobot right there. My bot saved her life!"

Powell pointed at Saberwolf. Saberwolf narrowed her optics and transformed. She stepped up to Powell and snarled at him, baring her teeth. Powell yelped and jumped behind his Hero-Bot. Saberwolf made a "hmph" sound and went back to where she was standing originally, transforming again.

"I told you I can handle myself," she said in an icy tone, "And if you say something like that again I'll—"

"Saberwolf," Optimus warned.

Saberwolf fell silent and crossed her arms. Powell cleared his throat and straightened his tie as he stepped out from behind his Hero-Bot.

_As if hiding behind that piece of tin would have stopped me…_

"Anyways," Fanzone said to get everyone back on track, "Where are the Dinobots now?"

"Bumblebee and Bulkhead are taking them back to their island," Optimus said.

"And why is that? They should be locked up not released!" Fanzone said irritably.

"They were infected by a virus," BlackArachnia said, "They couldn't fight the urge to destroy things. Trust me, I accidently downloaded a little bit of it. It faded, thankfully, but it was really strong and very hard to fight."

"It was transmitted to them via these microchips," Ratchet said, handing them over.

Fanzone glanced at them and then back up at the Autobots.

"Why don't we get inside? It's colder than a dead man's balls out here, and I have a feeling this is gonna be a long conversation," he said.

Saberwolf suppressed a laugh at the Autobots' and Powell's disgusted looks.

"Sorry, that was a bit vulgar," Fanzone said, "It's been a long day and I forget to censor myself when I'm tired."

Optimus and the others just shook their heads and followed Fanzone inside. There was a big garage door to the left of the main entrance that opened to a very high ceilinged conference room. Saberwolf guessed it was built after the Autobots made themselves known to the humans.

They all found somewhere to sit along the Cybertronian sized table in the center of the room, complete with several Cybertronian sized chairs. Powell left his Hero-Bot outside.

"Okay, so explain this whole thing to me from the beginning," Fanzone said, taking a lift to the top of the long table.

He took a seat in a wheeled desk chair that was left sitting on top of the table. There was also a little coffee table with a cordless coffee machine and some mugs. Fanzone put a mug in the spot made for it to sit and turned the machine on. It brewed some coffee quickly. Saberwolf wondered briefly about who it was that kept it supplied with coffee grounds and hot water.

"Saberwolf and I were out on patrol and we heard—well, she heard—a commotion," BlackArachnia said, "We followed the noise to Main Street where we found the Dinobots raging around setting fire to cars and thrashing about, yadda, yadda, yadda."

"We tried to stop them and they turned on us," Saberwolf added, "We fought for a while and then BlackArachnia downloaded Grimlock's power, along with a bit of the virus that was plaguing them. That's how we knew about the virus."

"I had to be stasis cuffed because I was having difficulties fighting the strong urge the virus gave me to destroy things," BlackArachnia continued, "Saberwolf turned to face the Dinobots again and then Powell's Hero-Bot showed up."

"It shot at them with the laser rifles I equipped it with and then stuck them with a high powered cattle prod," Powell said proudly.

"Okay, so how'd you know to show up with this amazing bot of yours?" Fanzone asked.

"For the third time, I saw the commotion from my high-rise condo. I have a great view of the city and the Dinobots were making a big scene. I had my Hero-Bot downstairs in the parking garage. It had only ever been tested on some testing grounds that I own, but it passed all the quality control tests I'd put it through so I decided to go help," Powell explained.

"And why do you have a crime fighting robot?" Fanzone asked, sipping his freshly brewed coffee.

"Because I heard about that freak show Megatron's escape and I figured Earth could use all the help it could get in case he decides to show up here again," Powell said, "If just one of these bots successfully took out those Dinobots, imagine what a fleet of them could do against the Decepticons!"

"Right. And how much would a whole fleet of those bots run the city?" Fanzone asked.

"We can hash out a price later," Powell said, "But producing them would cost a pretty penny so…"

Powell smirked. Fanzone sighed.

"Well at least those damn Dinobots were taken care of," he said, "Now where did those microchips come from?"

"They are human technology, but we don't know where from. That's why we brought them to you," Ratchet said.

"What person in their right minds would send the Dinobots on a rampage?" Fanzone asked, mostly to himself, "This disturbs me. I'll have it looked into. Thanks for all the help, Autobots… And others. You can go now if you'd like."

Optimus nodded. The team stood and headed for the door. Saberwolf lingered for a moment.

"You should probably send someone to take a look at all those destroyed cars," she said, "And you should know that two humans got caught in the path of the Dinobots' rage. They were in one of the cars."

Everyone stopped and their faces fell. Saberwolf swore she saw guilt in Powell's eyes, but in a blink it was gone and he wore the same horribly shocked expression as the others. Saberwolf's plating heated as the images of the burnt bodies flashed in and out of her vision. She turned and opened the big door, stepping out into the cold. Her hands curled into fists and glowed blue with energy as she walked away from the building, thinking about those two bodies and wondering if they had families that would miss them.


	24. Chapter 24

**_Okay, so i'm going to have to do this over three chapters. the next chapter will probably be really short, but i didn't want to tack it on to the end of this one because this one ends so well (in my opinion). sorry this took so long to post. i just had a really hard time focusing on this. my real life has become rather hectic lately. my brain is so frazzled. anyway, i shouldn't take so long to post new chapters of this story anymore. hope you enjoy. :) (i make a transformers prime reference in this chapter! [sort of] see if you can find it!) (hint: it's in the first few lines.) _**

**_Disclaimer: all aspects of this story are reserved to their rightful companies. i do not make profit from FanFiction._**

* * *

**Chapter 24: Big Discoveries**

"That's gotta be the worst stroke of bad luck imaginable," Sari said as she watched a news report on the two bodies found in the cars.

"… Kevin and June Darby left behind a four-year-old son named Jackson, AKA Jack, and a very large, close-knit family. They will be well missed…"

Sari turned off the television, unable to watch anymore. She leaned into Bumblebee's side, spark aching with sorrow.

"Bad luck doesn't even begin to cover it," Bumblebee said sadly.

Sari nodded and sighed. She reflected on what Powell had told Fanzone about how he knew to come to Saberwolf's aid.

There's no way this is a coincidence… And if it's not, then Powell is going to pay…

Messing with her dad's company was one thing. Messing with people's lives was too much.

But Optimus would never let me do any digging… He'd say I was making more of this than there is… And Bumblebee is not stealthy at all, and to find out more I'm going to have to be very stealthy… But I can't do this alone!

Sari wracked her brain to find someone who could help her.

If only Prowl were here… No, he'd be against it too… If only there was a bot that was like Prowl, but not opposed to doing something like this… Hmm… OH! Saberwolf! Duh!

Sari almost slapped herself for not realizing sooner.

Saberwolf will help me! Maybe… I might have to convince her, but how hard could that be?

Sari sighed as she realized how hard that would be.

Shit… Well, it's worth a try… But first I gotta at least tell Bee what I'm up to. I'll just have to hope he can keep it a secret.

"Hey Bumblebee," she said softly so the others wouldn't hear, "Will you come up to my room with me? I need to talk to you."

"Sure," Bumblebee said.

Sari climbed up onto his shoulder and they went upstairs. Bumblebee opened the door and knelt so Sari could get off. Sari jumped down and shut the door. Then she walked over and sat on her bed. Bumblebee sat down on the floor beside it so he was closer to her level.

"What's up?" he said, looking somewhat concerned.

"I think Powell had something to do with the Dinobots' rampage," Sari said.

Bumblebee looked at her in shock.

"Whoa! He's a bad guy Sari, but do you really think he's THAT bad?" he asked.

"No, but I do think he's that stupid and arrogant and greedy," Sari said.

"I don't follow."

"He has a new bot that he wants mass produced and sold for a lot of money, but he needs to win over the police and the city before he can get them to agree to it," Sari said, "And what better way than to have his bot beat up on the Dinobots? There's no way he just conveniently looked out his window and saw the Dinobots, and had his Hero-Bot all rigged up for the snow, and most importantly feel heroic enough to come deal with them instead of hiding away!"

Bumblebee looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Wow, that does seem really suspicious, I wonder why no one brought it up," he said.

"Well, we don't really have proof," Sari said.

"Yeah, but knowing Powell he'd get all defensive and stuff if we started asking him a bunch of questions," Bumblebee said.

"Yeah. He already seemed kinda defensive though," Sari said, "And I swear I saw guilt in his eyes when Saberwolf mentioned the two bodies."

"You might be making more of this than there is," Bumblebee said.

Sari glared at him.

"What? You don't think he had something to do with it?" Sari asked.

"No, I do! It's just, there's not much there to support it with except for gut feelings and a few possible coincidences," Bumblebee said.

"Exactly. That's why I want to do some digging. And of course by that I mean spying," Sari said with a mischievous smirk.

"Umm… doesn't that involve stealth? I'm not good at stealth," Bumblebee said.

"I know. I was going to ask Saberwolf to help me, since she's the only other one who would," Sari said.

Bumblebee sighed and looked disappointed.

"But I told you about it, and I need you to keep Optimus off our backs," Sari said.

Bumblebee brightened when he heard he was going to be included.

"I can challenge him to a game!" Bumblebee said.

Sari laughed.

"Anything you want as long as it keeps him and the others distracted," Sari said.

"You know, Saberwolf might not want to help," Bumblebee pointed out.

"I know," Sari said.

"So you're gonna persuade her?"

"Yep," Sari said with a smirk.

Bumblebee smiled. He gave Sari a look that made her spark pound.

"You can be very persuasive," he said.

Sari laughed.

"Only to you," she said.

Bumblebee nodded and laughed a little. Sari got off her bed and climbed up on his chassis to give him a hug. He returned the hug. Sari leaned into him and sighed happily. Being with Bumblebee made the world seem okay, even when it wasn't. She lifted her head and looked into his optics.

"I love you Bee," she said.

Then her optics flew open wide. She hadn't meant to say it. It had just slipped out. It felt natural, but Sari knew it was too soon in any relationship for that. She looked at Bumblebee waiting for the awkwardness. But Bumblebee just looked overjoyed.

"I love you too," he said.

Sari felt ready to burst with happiness. She crawled closer to Bumblebee's helm and lightly pressed her lips to his. Despite the size difference, it felt natural. Sari felt as though this was right where she was supposed to be. In Bumblebee's arms, kissing him softly. She pulled away and nestled into his neck.

"Wow…" Bumblebee whispered, leaning back against the wall next to her bed.

"Yeah, wow…" Sari said breathlessly.

They stayed like that for a while. Sari knew she'd have to get up to go talk to Saberwolf eventually, but right now she was content to sit with Bumblebee. Neither of them had gotten much recharge last night after the Dinobots' rampage, as the news of the two unfortunate humans had haunted them. Soon enough they fell asleep together. It was the most peaceful sleep Sari had had in a while.

* * *

Saberwolf couldn't say "yes" fast enough when Sari had asked her to help spy on Powell. She'd been considering doing it herself, but she had no information on the man other than he lived in a high-rise condo somewhere near uptown Detroit. But Sari no doubt knew more than she did, or at least knew how to find out more.

So they'd agreed to sneak out later that night. Saberwolf knew this was behind Optimus's back, but felt it necessary and was glad Bumblebee was ready to cover for them if he had to. She was eagerly awaiting going. She planned on being back by midnight so she could tell Prowl all about what she found. She'd already told him last night about everything that had happened and what she suspected. Prowl agreed that there seemed to be something going on and that he'd do his own observation. Saberwolf hoped they wouldn't run into each other. But she doubted they would. She could detect his presence and hew was too careful for that to happen. Saberwolf felt slightly disappointed at this realization, but got over it quickly knowing that seeing Prowl with Sari around would simply cause drama.

When the time came around for everyone to go into recharge, Saberwolf was full of anticipation. She waited in her room until she heard everyone settle. Then Sari's footsteps were in the hall and a there was small knock on the door. Saberwolf opened it and stepped out silently.

"Bee's awake and keeping an audio receptor open for the others," Sari whispered.

Saberwolf nodded and she and Sari crept over to Prowl's room. Saberwolf had suggested earlier they go out through the hole in his roof so no one would hear any doors opening. Sari had seemed to struggle with the idea, but caved quickly. So Saberwolf tested to make sure Prowl wasn't there, acting as if she was listening for the others, and then opened the door. The two femmes snuck in quietly and the door closed behind them. Saberwolf crept over to the oak and motioned for Sari to climb up. Sari gazed around the room with a somewhat distant look, then went up the tree. She was surprisingly silent as she did so, and navigated the branched like a pro. Saberwolf got the impression that she'd climbed this tree before. Saberwolf followed her up and transformed once they got on the roof. She let Sari climb on her back.

"Hold on as tight as you can," Saberwolf said.

Sari nodded and wrapped her arms around Saberwolf's neck to hold on better. Saberwolf took a moment to walk and run around silently on the roof, getting used to having Sari on her back, then she leapt down onto the ground and started running. When she came across a building low enough, she used it as stepping stool to get onto the taller buildings. She ran along the rooftops for a while, then remembered it was Sari who knew where they were going.

"So where's this guy's condo?"

"It's on the outskirts of Uptown Detroit," Sari said, "But I was actually planning on going to the police station to check out those microchips. If I can identify some unique qualities about them or their origins, I might be able to link them to Powell. Or whoever did this…"

"No, I think you had it right the first time," Saberwolf said, "To Powell."

Sari laughed.

"You know we can't jump to conclusions," she said.

"Yeah," Saberwolf said with a sigh, "But can you blame me?"

"No, not really," Sari said.

There was silence for a while as Saberwolf sprinted over the rooftops. Saberwolf enjoyed the feel of the wind whipping by. She wondered if this was anything close to what flying was like. But she brushed that away, as it brought thoughts of the Decepticons to her mind. She didn't want to think about the Decepticons right now.

"Hey Sari," Saberwolf said.

"Yeah?"

"How are we going to get a good look at those microchips without the police finding out about what we're up to?" Saberwolf asked, "It's not entirely legal."

"Well, I was just going to ask Fanzone if I could examine them for anything that could be even remotely related to the Decepticons," Sari said, "He won't question that."

Saberwolf was impressed.

"Smart," she said.

"I think so," Sari said confidently.

Saberwolf laughed a little and kept running. She decided to pick up the pace and run at full speed so they could get this preliminary step done faster. Sari gripped her neck more firmly and her body tensed.

"Whoa!" she shouted as Saberwolf jumped gracefully over a large gap between two buildings.

Saberwolf laughed and willed herself to run faster. It caused some pain, but she didn't care. Sari started laughing and whooping.

"This is one hundred times better than a roller coaster!" she shouted.

Saberwolf stopped pushing herself and settled for top speed. Sari held on tight and they got to the police station quickly. Saberwolf leapt to successively lower buildings as they approached it until she reached the ground, still moving really fast.

"Hold on!" Saberwolf warned as she dug her claws into the ice over the parking lot.

Her body lurched painfully and she slid a few meters before stopping. Sari nearly fell off, but the strength in her arms managed to just barely beat her inertia. She clung to Saberwolf for a moment, then slowly got down. Saberwolf cycled air rapidly, trying to cool herself. She hadn't run that fast in stellar cycles. She was glad she'd managed to stop before crashing into, and most likely through, one of the police station's walls. Sari glared up at her.

"Why the hell didn't you slow down sooner?" she shouted angrily.

Saberwolf flopped down into the snow to help further cool herself.

"Honestly, I forgot," Saberwolf said.

Sari shook her head and started walking towards the police station.

"Wait up!" Saberwolf said.

She stood and shook off the melted snow. She caught up with Sari quickly and they entered the police station together. Sari walked up to the officer at the front desk and Saberwolf sat down beside her patiently.

"Hello Miss Sumdac," said the officer blandly, "I'll tell Fanzone to come down."

"Thanks!" Sari said with a cheerful nod.

The officer sighed and hit a button on an intercom.

"Captain Fanzone, there's a Miss Sari Sumdac here to see you," the officer's voice filled the station.

A few minutes later Fanzone came walking down the hallway.

"Don't you bug me enough?" he asked Sari as he ushered her into the conference room they'd used the day before.

"Nope," Sari said with a mischievous smile.

Fanzone closed the door after Saberwolf had entered. Saberwolf saw a little human sitting area in the corner and walked over to it, lying down next to one of the chairs. Sari sat in the chair and Fanzone sat in the one opposite.

"So what are you two here for?" Fanzone asked.

"What are you doing here so late? I thought your shift was over hours ago?" Sari asked.

"I've been workin' overtime tryin' to figure out who this joker was that killed two innocent bystanders!" Fanzone said grumpily, "Now answer my question before I throw ya outta here!"

Saberwolf snorted in amusement as she imagined Fanzone trying to throw Sari, or herself for that matter, out of anywhere. Fanzone glared at her and shook his head.

"And why'd ya have to bring the dog?" he asked Sari irritably.

Saberwolf growled in agitation.

"I'm a wolf," she said.

"Whatever," Fanzone said, "Now, tell me why you're here, so I can get back to work."

"We're here to take a look at those microchips again," Sari explained, "We want to make sure there's absolutely no link to the Decepticons whatsoever."

Fanzone looked at her critically for a moment, then nodded his head.

"Fine, but they remain inside the facility. We've already dusted 'em for prints and such, so you can touch 'em and do your weirdness and whatever," Fanzone said.

"It's called technopathy," Sari said.

"Whatever," Fanzone said, "Can it help you find who did it?"

"Only if they were dumb enough to put something about them in it," Sari said.

"Well take a look and let me know what you find," Fanzone said.

He led them out of the room and down the hall. They reached a room marked 'EVIDENCE LOCKER' and Fanzone punched in a security code. Saberwolf instantly memorized it.

_Oops… Didn't mean to do that… Oh well. Might come in handy sometime…_

Fanzone ushered them into the room and showed them to the micro-chips. They were sitting in a plastic bag on the shelf above the label 'E42'. Saberwolf memorized that as well.

"There they are," Fanzone said, "Now do your little techno-whatever and tell me what ya find, then get your asses out of here. I have work to do."

Saberwolf rolled her optics and sat down. She watched as Sari took a microchip out of the bag and closed her optics. There were some strange sounds and Sari's hand glowed blue. Then she opened her optics and put the microchip back into the bag.

"So what'd the verdict?" Fanzone asked.

"Most definitely not Cybertronian," Sari said, "But other than virus, I couldn't find anything."

"Wonderful, then this was a waste of time," Fanzone said irritably, "Show yourselves out!"

He walked out of the room shaking his head.

"This is why I hate machines…" he mumbled to himself as he went.

"What a grump!" Sari said, crossing her arms.

Saberwolf chuckled.

"But he is under a lot of stress," Sari said thoughtfully, "Poor guy."

"So, what's next?" Saberwolf asked, as they started walking out.

"We report back to Optimus," Sari said.

Saberwolf cocked her head. Her processor was tired from lack of good recharge, but she didn't think it would cause her to hear something _that_ wrong.

"But I thought—"

"I know, we were going to go to the movies, but I think we should tell Optimus about this first," Sari said as they passed a group of police officers, "He'll be more chilled out when he knows that the Decepticons are, without a doubt, not involved."

Saberwolf suddenly understood. Sari didn't want the police to know they were going to be spying. Saberwolf nodded as they walked out the door. She let Sari climb on again and took off.

"What the hell?" Sari exclaimed once they were away from the police station, "What was with the stupid question? You knew what we were doing next! You almost blew it!"

Saberwolf felt lightly embarrassed at her lack of understanding.

"Sorry!" Saberwolf said, "I wasn't thinking!"

"Obviously!" Sari said irritably.

"You chose to bring me into this!" Saberwolf said defensively, "I haven't gotten any good recharge in days and my processor is a little slow because of it! I didn't get _any_ recharge last night."

Sari sighed.

"Me neither," she said, "Sorry for snapping."

Saberwolf sighed as well.

"You're forgiven, as long as I'm forgiven for having a…" Saberwolf couldn't think of a work for it.

"A derp?" Sari suggested.

Saberwolf laughed at her use of the old American slang term.

"Yeah, that."

"You're forgiven," Sari said with a laugh.

"Good. Now can you tell me how to get to the 'movies'," Saberwolf asked.

Sari laughed again and told her how to get there.

It took a while to get to the building Powell's condo was located in. Saberwolf didn't run at full speed this time by Sari's request. When they did get there Sari told her to wait outside while she went in to find out which floor Powell was on. Saberwolf waited patiently while Sari talked to the woman at the front desk. She came out with an angry look.

"She's been instructed to never let me or the other Autobots know which one is his!" Sari said angrily.

Saberwolf felt slightly agitated. She heard the door to the building open and saw a teenage boy wearing a blue jumpsuit with a nametag on it. He was carrying a garbage bad to a dumpster.

_A janitor? What kind of teenager is a janitor? They can hardly clean up their own rooms, not to mention other people's rooms…_

Saberwolf watched him in intrigue for a moment, noticing a ring of keys attached to his belt. She suddenly got an idea.

"Sari!" she whispered urgently.

"What?"

"Keep your voice down," Saberwolf said, "See that guy over there? The one wearing a janitor's outfit, with all the keys on his belt."

Sari glanced over her shoulder at him. He looked up at her and smiled shyly, waving a hand. Sari waved back and looked back at Saberwolf.

"Yeah, so?" Sari was silent for a moment, then her optics flashed with realization.

She gave Saberwolf an angry look.

"No way!" she whispered angrily, "If you haven't noticed, me and Bumblebee are kinda, together!"

"Keep your voice down!" Saberwolf warned.

The boy hadn't seemed to notice.

"It's not like you have to marry him or anything! Just go up to him and ask which condo is Powell's," Saberwolf said.

"And you expect him just to answer?" Sari said, crossing her arms.

"Well, you're not a bad looking girl and he seems to be interested," Saberwolf said.

"And you want me to, what? Flirt with him so he tells me what I want to know?" Sari asked incredulously.

"A little, if you have to," Saberwolf said.

Sari shook her head.

"That's the worst idea I've ever heard!" Sari said, "Why don't you do it?"

Saberwolf sighed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, that was a stupid statement," Sari said.

"Okay, new idea. You walk up to him, ask him where Powell's condo is, and if he doesn't answer, we turn around and leave," Saberwolf said.

"Fine. But I'm most definitely _not_ going to flirt with him," Sari said, "That's so cruel! Flirting with a guy just to get what you want… That's so… so…"

"Slutty?" Saberwolf suggested.

"Decepticon," Sari said, as she turned and started walking towards the boy.

Saberwolf hung her head guiltily for a brief moment, then followed Sari.

"Scuse me," Sari said as she approached the boy.

He looked back at her, seeming surprised that she was talking to him.

"Y-Yeah?" he responded, turning around quickly.

"I was just wondering, could you tell me which number Porter C. Powell is in?" Sari asked innocently.

"Uuhhh…." the boy, whose nametag said Jack, scratched his head and looked conflicted, "I'm not supposed to say…"

"Oh, okay then. Never mind," Sari said.

She turned and started walking away. Saberwolf walked after her, but glanced back at the boy. He was biting his lip and fidgeting as Sari walked away.

"And three… two… one…" Saberwolf said quietly.

"Wait!" Jack called out.

Sari gave Saberwolf an impressed look.

"Like clockwork," Saberwolf said smugly.

"But I didn't even—"

"Looks like you didn't have to," Saberwolf said.

Sari shook her head.

"Yeah?" she said, addressing Jack.

"He… He's in the penthouse," Jack said.

_Shoulda guessed…_

"Thanks so much!" Sari said.

She and Saberwolf continued walking.

"H-hey!" Jack called.

Sari turned.

"Umm… yeah?"

"Please don't tell anyone I told you," he said.

"Your secret's safe with us," Saberwolf said.

Jack jumped and gave her an odd look. He nodded, then went back inside.

"You scared him!" Sari said sternly.

"I didn't mean to," Saberwolf said.

Sari just rolled her optics.

"So… How do we get in?" Saberwolf asked, transforming into robot mode and looking up at the top floor windows. They were very high up.

"I didn't think about that…" Sari said.

Saberwolf face-palmed. She let out an agitated sigh. She looked up at the building. There were several other buildings near it, but none as tall.

"Alright, I'm going to climb onto the shorter buildings and try to use them as stepping stools," Saberwolf said.

Sari nodded and Saberwolf extended a hand for her to climb on.

"Up you get," she said.

Sari climbed onto Saberwolf's hand and Saberwolf put her on her shoulder. Sari held onto her shoulder plating as she took a few paces back. Once she got far enough away, Saberwolf started running and jumped as high as she could. She just barely got her feet on one of the buildings around the condo.

"My vertical leap could use some work," she said.

"Yeah, I thought you were gonna crash into the building," Sari commented.

_I can jump better in wolf mode…_

Saberwolf huffed and looked up at Powell's condo. The roof was still pretty high up. Luckily, the windows were on the other side, so Saberwolf didn't have to jump all the way to the top in one shot. She just needed to catch the edge and pull herself up. And she wouldn't have to worry about Powell seeing her.

Saberwolf took several paces backwards, not stopping until she reached the edge of the building she was currently standing on, and looked up at the roof of Powell's building with determination. She sprinted forward and sprung upwards with all her might when she reached the end of the building she was on. She stuck her hangs out in front and readied to catch the building. Her hands barely got the edge of the building. Saberwolf dug her fingers into the concrete and flinched as her body slammed into the side of the building. She waited for her inertia to stop moving forward, then pulled herself up onto the building. She panted a bit and looked at her shoulder to see if Sari had managed to hold on. Sari had her arms and legs wrapped around the hilt of her katana and wore a grimace. She seemed frozen like that.

"Sari?" Saberwolf prompted.

"Is it over?" Sari said through gritted teeth.

"Yes," Saberwolf said.

Sari gingerly opened one optic, then sighed and crawled back onto Saberwolf's shoulder.

"I almost fell off with the first jump. Your sword was easier to hold onto," Sari said as she climbed down Saberwolf's arm.

Saberwolf nodded and waited for Sari to climb down before she stood. She scanned the rooftop and saw a little shed-like thing sticking up from the center.

"A roof entrance!" Sari said excitedly.

Saberwolf smiled.

_Good, then all that jumping was for good reason._

The two femmes walked over to the door. Sari tried the handle and found it locked.

"Dammit!" she shouted in agitation.

Saberwolf got an idea. Prowl had mentioned processor-over-matter once and Saberwolf had asked him what it was. He'd told her it was something too complex for her right now, but that perhaps one day he could show her how to do it. Saberwolf kept pestering him about it until he explained the concept of it to her, and even showed her how he could use it to move things around. Saberwolf off-lined her optics and focused her mind. She blocked out everything but the door. She willed the door to open, the lock to click open. She pictured the handle turning, the locking mechanism inside moving to unlock the door. Without really thinking about it, she started humming the tune Prowl had hummed when he'd shown her the technique. She continued like this for a few minutes. Then she heard a very soft clicking noise come from the door.

Saberwolf's optics burst on-line and widened. Her mouth hung open in shock.

_Did that really just work?_

Saberwolf became aware of Sari speaking.

"…are you doing?" Sari shouted softly.

Saberwolf looked down at her.

"Tr-try the door now," Saberwolf said.

"What? I already did!" Sari said, giving Saberwolf an 'are you serious?' look.

"Just try it!" Saberwolf said.

Sari let out an agitated sigh and walked back up to the door.

"I told you already, it's locked," Sari said, putting her hand on the door handle, "It's not just going to magically—"

Sari stopped in shock as the handle turned easily. Saberwolf's jaw dropped and her optics went wider than ever as Sari pushed the door and it silently swung open, revealing stained hardwood stairs. Sari looked up at Saberwolf with an incredulous look.

"H-how did you do that?" Sari said.

Saberwolf just shook her head. Sari gave a little titter and shook her head as well. She turned back towards the door. She took a big breath and let it out slowly, a look of determination forming on her face. Saberwolf took in some air in a similar fashion, then transformed into wolf and followed Sari as she silently descended the stairs. Saberwolf turned around and grabbed the door handle in her jaws, carefully pulling the door shut. It clicked softly into place. Saberwolf turned and continued down the stairs.

When they got to the bottom they found another door. Sari put her ear to it. Saberwolf tilted her ears forward and planted her feet firmly on the floor.

"I don't hear anything…" Sari said, reaching for the door handle.

"Wait," Saberwolf said.

She off-lined her optics again and focused on her senses of hearing and touch. She heard faint snoring and focused on that. She raked her claws slowly through the wooden floor and felt the vibrations travel throughout the condo. She got a vague sense of the layout and found that the snoring was coming from a room to their left. She put one paw firmly against the wall and tapped it with another, feeling the vibrations and getting vague images of doors in her head. The door to the room the snoring came from was closed.

"He's two doors down to our left, sleeping," Saberwolf said, on-lining her optics, "The door's shut, so if we're quiet he won't hear us."

"And how did you do that?" Sari asked.

"I spent several years honing my senses before I first came to earth," Saberwolf explained, "Now they're extremely sharp."

Sari nodded and turned the door handle carefully. She pushed the door open carefully. Saberwolf was glad for the silence of well-oiled door hinges. They stepped out into a long hallway lined with doors.

_What does one human need so many rooms for?_

Sari appeared to have a similar thought, as she was shaking her head and giving them a vexed look.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Saberwolf asked.

"Anything suspicious. I need to get a look at his computer…" Sari said.

They started carefully opening doors and peeking into rooms looking for an office, avoiding the one Powell was snoring in. They found it, and Sari searched the multiple computers inside. She shook her head in agitation.

"Maybe a personal computer," Sari said.

Saberwolf nodded. They started looking throughout the whole condo for another computer or laptop. They couldn't find it.

"It has to be in his bedroom," Saberwolf said.

Sari suddenly looked nervous.

"I don't think I'm that sneaky…" She said with a gulp.

Saberwolf sighed.

"Then I'll do it," she said blandly, "You keep looking around for… something."

Sari nodded and wished Saberwolf luck. Saberwolf nodded. She walked down the hallway to Powell's door. She took in a big amount of air and, despite being so bland and bored in front of Sari, felt nervous. If she woke up Powell, he'd call the cops, the cops would call the base, and both Sari and Saberwolf would have to deal with the team. Bumblebee wouldn't be able to cover for them if that happened. Saberwolf felt the pressure of what she had to do fall over her. Her intakes grew rapid, and she suddenly felt jittery. She reminded herself that she'd faced much worse than her team before and come out in one piece. Physically at least.

_But disappointing my new team… My new… family… _

Saberwolf shook as she realized what this team was to her. She had only been with them for a few months and she already loved them all. They were her family. The possibility of disappointing them was something she found herself terrified of.

Saberwolf thought of the four your old boy, Jackson. She'd seen him on the news broadcast earlier that day, then an interview later with his aunt, after he'd been told about his parents. His aunt did all of the talking, while he just sat still with a look that most others would see as sadness. Saberwolf had seen it and knew it was much more than that. He had shut down, lost in darkness, unaware of the world around him, just as she had been so many stellar-cycles ago.

The image of his face flashing in the back of her processor gave her the strength to continue. If Powell had any information at all about what had happened, she would find it. Because someone had to pay for what Jack was about to go through.

_And if Powell has anything to do with it…_

Saberwolf imagined ripping him to pieces starting with his legs, his arms, his ears, his nose, pulling out his teeth one by one, all without numbing him up…

Saberwolf shook herself back into focus and gripped the door handle in her jaws. She turned her head slowly and pushed open the door. She slithered into the room and gazed about for Powell. She found him in a massive bed on the opposite side of the room. The bed had four tall posts that went all the way up to the top of the nine foot tall ceiling. There were curtains all around the bed, but they were all drawn open. The luxurious bedspread had the same color scheme as his favorite suit. Powell was sprawled out on his back in red silk pajamas, his head resting on a pillow half drenched in drool.

_That's just fucking great…_

Saberwolf shook her head in disgust and looked around the room. She found what she was searching for instantly. There was a laptop and a cellphone on one of the large nightstands by his bed. His left hand was resting on the laptop.

_Fuck my life…_

Saberwolf moved silently across the hardwood floor. She stopped when she reached the nightstand. She locked her optics on Powell and watched for a reaction as she nudged the laptop gently with her nose. Powell's eyes shot open and Saberwolf dove silently under the bed. It was a tight fit, but she managed to squeeze under without making one sound. She halted her intakes and hoped her pounding spark was only deafening to her. She willed Sari to be silent. Saberwolf heard Powell's weight shift on the bed as he sat up. She saw his feet dangle off the edge, and shrunk back tucking her tail under her body to avoid it poking out from the other side.

"My laptop…" he said groggily to himself.

Saberwolf heard him pick it up and open it. Typed on the keyboard and Saberwolf heard an automated voice welcome him. Powell clicked around for a few moments, then sighed in relief.

"S'alright…" he said with a yawn.

Saberwolf heard the computer say goodbye to him and then heard him close the laptop. He placed it on the nightstand again and returned to lying on the bed. Saberwolf waited a few minutes to make sure he went back to sleep. When she heard him snoring, she carefully crawled out from under the bed. She shook out the cramps in her joints, then looked up at Powell. He had rolled over on his side and was no longer touching his laptop. Saberwolf quickly grabbed it in her mouth and set it on the floor. She also grabbed his cellphone and placed it on top of the laptop. She grabbed the laptop in her jaws again and walked with it, carefully balancing the phone on top. She snuck back out the door and set her load down. She turned the door handle so the door wouldn't click when it closed. She pulled it shut gently, then slowly turned the handle back to the proper position. She picked up her load again and carefully carried it back to Sari.

"What took so long? I'm biting my nails off here!" Sari whispered frantically.

"Powell woke up for a moment," Saberwolf whispered back, "Don't worry, he didn't see me."

Sari's optics widened, then narrowed. She shook her head and took both the phone and the laptop from Saberwolf. She closed her optics and touched the two devices. There was the familiar glow and sounds as she did so, then her optics opened. Saberwolf looked and saw them fill with an unspeakable amount of anger.

"We need to leave. Now."

Saberwolf didn't question her as she put the laptop in the backpack she'd brought along, leaving the phone on the big couch she had been sitting on. They went out the way they'd come, Sari locking to door behind them. Saberwolf got them down to the street quickly, finding that descending the buildings was easier. Sari jumped off and they walked along the street a ways before Sari turned down an alley. She yelled in anger and punched a dent into a dumpster. Then she punched another, and another. Saberwolf waited patiently until she was done. Sari stopped after five minutes and rubbed her knuckles. She looked up at Saberwolf, angry tears in her optics.

"What did you find?" she asked.

"The code that triggered the virus's download into the Dinobots," Sari said, "Activated half an hour before the first report on the Dinobots' rampage."

Sari had to dash after Saberwolf and shout at her and shoot her with several energy spheres to keep her from charging into Powell's condo and tearing off his limbs.

* * *

**_Don't worry, Powell will pay. _**

**_Now go take my poll! Seriously, if you want this story to continue to part 3, you must take this poll! (pwease?)_**


	25. Chapter 25

_**The third part of the little Powell bit. As the name suggests, justice is served. Kind of. Hope you enjoy, even though this is shorter than the previous two chapters!**_

_**Diclaimer: i do not own transformers!**_

* * *

**Chapter 25: Justice**

Saberwolf walked in to the interrogation room. She glared at the white tuxedoed monster sitting on the other side of the small table. She set the files she was holding on the table, out of the monster's reach, then transformed; the room had enough clearance for it. She glared at the monster. She fought the urge to reach across the table and rip his fat head off of his shoulders. She would do it, but she'd promised her team she'd follow the human's customs. So instead, she slid the all but one files across the tabletop so they were in front of the monster. While the monster looked down at the files, she hid the last one behind her back.

"What are these? More paperwork for me to fill out?" the monster's arrogant voice said, it's disgusting face twisting into a scowl, "They got my confession already. I signed everything I was supposed to sign, so I'm done. And why are you here? You're not Detroit PD."

"I wanted you to see those," Saberwolf said, gesturing to the files with one hand.

The monster opened the files and looked at them, confusion flashing over his face.

"Yeah, and?"

"Those are all the people suing you for everything you own," Saberwolf said, "All those cars you made the Dinobots destroy had owners. And they're not happy. Not one bit…"

The monster called Powell adjusted his collar. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Saberwolf smirked at the distressed look on his face. His money was being taken away. And he didn't like it.

"O-okay. So?"

"Just thought you'd like to see them," Saberwolf said.

Powell closed the files and pushed them away with distaste. There was silence for a moment. Saberwolf glared down at the horrid pile of flesh and yet again imagined ripping him to pieces.

"You just gonna stand there?" Powell asked, crossing his arms.

"Those were the lucky ones you know," Saberwolf said matter-of-factly, ignoring his question, "The ones whose cars were destroyed. They barely have problems. At least, compared to others."

Powell's face grew paler. More sweat formed on his face. Guilt shone in his eyes. Saberwolf paced over and stood behind him. Saberwolf heard him swallow nervously. Saberwolf stood over him and dropped the last file. It landed on Powell's lap. He hesitantly picked it up and opened it. On top of the stack of paperwork was a picture of a black haired, blue eyed little boy. The caption on the picture said Jackson Darby. Powell dropped the file on the table, face growing even paler.

"You know that boy right?" Saberwolf asked, kneeling so she could talk into his ear, "Jackson Darby. Four years old as of two days ago. Two days ago… the same day June and Kevin Darby were burnt alive in their car."

Powell was silent. Saberwolf waited to see if he would say anything, but he didn't so she continued.

"Do you know why Kevin and June were in their car?" Saberwolf got no answer, "They were on their way home from picking up little Jack's birthday cake and present. A little teddy bear. That's what he wanted. That's what the left to get. A teddy bear and a birthday cake."

Still more silence.

"They were definitely not expecting the Dinobots. And the Dinobots wouldn't have come to the mainland if it hadn't been for a little virus. A virus that was programmed by a group of interns from one of your companies," Saberwolf said, "Oh, and by the way, those interns are all in therapy for depression. When they found out that their programs were actually used, one of them even tried to kill himself. He'd in the hospital right now, recovering from his stomach being pumped. See, they were under the impression that their programs wouldn't be used for anything. Maybe because of a contract that they had to sign, and that _you_ signed, that stated it was just a harmless test. That it would only be used on a little test drone, then discarded. But that didn't happen. Now they have to go see a therapist every Thursday to try to convince themselves that it wasn't their fault."

Powell shook a little.

"And now back to Jack. He was expecting his parents to show up to his birthday party. He was eagerly waiting for their car to pull into the driveway, but what he got instead was a police cruiser and two big scary policemen. And when he asked where his parents were, they told him they wouldn't ever come home again," Saberwolf watched Powell's eyes glimmer with tears for a second, but he blinked them back quickly, "And the best part is that when he asked why, they had no answer for him."

Another moment of silence. The mood in the room was changing. Powell no longer looked nervous. Just guilty.

"Well now they have an answer. The next time he asks they'll say, because a stupid businessman wanted to, and I quote _you _'wanted to get ahead'," Saberwolf spat.

She reminded herself to calm down.

_Control yourself…_

"You think little Jack's gonna be happy with that?" Saberwolf asked.

Powell shook his head. His shoulders slumped.

"He's gonna hate you for the rest of your life," Saberwolf said, "And so will the rest of Detroit. They all know what you did."

Powell let out a shaky breath. Saberwolf smirked in triumph. She was getting to him.

"So two people have been murdered, a little boy orphaned, and a lot of damage has been done to lots of other things," Saberwolf continued, "And what happens to the man who's responsible?"

Powell, who'd hung his head while she was speaking, looked up quickly. Fear flashed in his eyes.

"Well, he has some damn good lawyers!" Saberwolf said angrily, "I don't know how they did it, but they managed to talk you out of the death sentence. Managed to get you down to a life sentence. You might wanna call them and thank them."

Saberwolf paced over to the other side of the table.

"For a life sentence?" Powell burst out, "Why would I thank them for that?"

"Because a life sentence is only twenty-five years!" Saberwolf shouted, angrily slamming her fists on the table, "Twenty-five years in prison is better than Death Row."

Powell jumped and gave her a hateful look.

"I don't know why you're so mad," Saberwolf said, lifting her hands out of the dents they'd made in the metal table, "You've gotten off easy. This doesn't even put a scratch in what you deserve."

Powell made a skeptic "hmph!" sound. All the guilt had fled from him and was replaced by false indignation. Saberwolf's optics narrowed.

"Do you have any idea how much restraint it takes to keep from tearing you to pieces right now? I would do it! But I made a promise to my team that I'd let the human authorities handle this how they wish," Saberwolf said, "So even though I desperately want to hurt you, I won't."

"What could you do to me?" Powell asked, cockily tossing his head and crossing his arms.

Saberwolf smirked maliciously. She walked over to where a camera was plugged in. She knew her team and the police were watching.

"You sure you want to ask that question?" she said to Powell, reaching up and unplugging the visual and sound cables from the back of the camera. She made sure the door was locked, then she darted behind Powell's chair. Her fingers lit up blue and she wrapped them around Powell, hovering just so she wasn't touching him. He shrank back in the chair and sweat dripped from his face.

"I could do anything I want to you, Powell," Saberwolf said, "I could slice you into bits with the flick of a wrist! I could tear you to pieces with my bare hands! I could snap your spine like a toothpick!"

Powell swallowed nervously, looking at her glowing hand with wide eyes.

"Want to know what I was going to do to you the night it was confirmed that you messed up the Dinobots?" Saberwolf asked, "Of course you do. I was going to burst into your condo and—"

Powell looked scared when she spoke about his condo. Saberwolf smiled.

"Yes, I know where you're condo is. Even been inside it," Saberwolf said cryptically, "I was going to burst in to your room and tear you apart. I would have started with your teeth, pulling them out slowly, one by one, until they were all scattered across the floor. No anesthetic. Then I'd rip your tongue from your throat so I wouldn't have to hear you scream. Then I'd rip off your ears, just so you'd look even more freakish. I'd melt off your nose; rip out your greasy hair in chunks, just to cause pain. But I'd leave your eyes so you could watch as I ripped your arms and legs out of their sockets and shoved them up your ass!"

Powell looked horrified. Saberwolf stopped the energy flow to her hand and let it cool, then closed her hand around Powell's body. He grunted in pain. Saberwolf heard pounding on the door, but ignored it.

"Then I'd leave you to bleed out on those luxurious white sheets of yours," Saberwolf continued, "And no one would find you for another twelve hours or so."

Saberwolf released Powell from her grip. He was completely fine, save a few bruises that might flower under his suit. And the suit itself was wrinkled. However, Powell looked severely shaken. Saberwolf smirked again and sauntered back over to the camera. She plugged the visual and audio cables back in and continued talking to Powell.

"I could have done all of that. Luckily Sari was there to help restrain me. I'll admit, she has more control than I do. You should thank her too, because if she hadn't stopped me, everything I just told you would be a reality," Saberwolf said, "Either that, or I would make you share the same fate as Kevin and June Darby."

Powell again looked horrified.

"But I made a promise," Saberwolf said, "So I'll let the humans do their thing. For now…"

"F-f-for now?" Powell's voice jumped up an octave on 'now'.

Saberwolf leaned over the table and gave Powell and intense glare.

"I haven't told my team about this, but I'm sure they'll agree with me," Saberwolf said, "Now listen up, because I'm only going to say this once, and you better absorb every word I say. Got it?"

Powell nodded several times.

"Good. Now, during _and_ after your sentence, I will be monitoring you. And if I _ever_ have even the tiniest shred, the smallest subatomic _particle_ of suspicion that you're doing _anything_ that could hurt any living being, I will _hunt you down_ and take pleasure in giving you everything I think you deserve for all you've ever done," Saberwolf said, "Do I make myself clear?"

Powell nodded nervously.

"What? I didn't hear you."

"Y-y-yes ma'am!" Powell whimpered.

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired of being in the same room as something as disgusting as you," Saberwolf said.

She gathered up the files and headed for the door. Before she left, she turned back to Powell.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Saberwolf said, "Congratulations."

"F-for what?"

"Becoming the first fully organic Decepticon," Saberwolf said, "Nearly as bad as Megatron."

Powell looked at her in confusion. Saberwolf felt more satisfied now. It was the worst insult she could give anyone. And Powell deserved it.

She walked out of the room and found herself facing a bunch of angry policemen. She rolled her optics and walked past them. Her team walked out of the next room. She expected angry looks, but got slightly approving ones instead. She got an angry glare from Fanzone, who walked out of the room behind the Autobots. Saberwolf handed him the files. He took them and shook his head.

"This is why I hate machines," he mumbled as he walked down the hallway.

He told one of the policemen that had tried to get into the interrogation room to get Powell off to his new home. Saberwolf watched as they dragged a scared shitless Powell out of the room and down the hall. She smirked in triumph at her work. Then she turned back to the others. There was silence for a moment as everybody reflected on all that had happened the past few days. They all wore satisfied looks. They all knew Powell had received some of the punishment he deserved, and it was enough for them to move on.

"Autobots, let's go home," Optimus said.

When they got back to the plant, Sari asked Saberwolf ad Bumblebee to come talk to her in her room.

"Thanks so much for covering for us Bee," Sari said once they were there, "And thank you too Saber."

"For what?" Saberwolf asked.

"For letting Powell know he'll never get away with this. And for meaning every word you said to him," Sari said, "It's about time someone told him his place."

Saberwolf smiled and nodded.

"Yeah! That was totally cool! I'd bet my video game collection he crapped his pants!" Bumblebee said happily!

"I wouldn't doubt it!" Sari said with a laugh.

"Yeah, he probably did," Saberwolf said, laughing as well.

They all shared a laugh and then there was a moment of silence.

"Oh!" Sari said finally, "I almost forgot! I have something to show you!"

Sari took off the backpack she'd been carrying and set it carefully on the ground. She opened it and pulled out a teddy bear and a necklace. The teddy bear had a singed head and half of its ear was burnt away, but other than that and a bit of dirt and ash, it was in pretty good shape. The necklace turned out to be a locket. It was gold and the locket part was a little blackened, as was the chain. But the picture inside was completely intact. It was a family photo of the Darbys: Kevin, June, and Jack as a baby.

"They were the only things that managed to survive the fire in the car," Sari said, "The teddy bear little Jackson was supposed to get for a present, and his mother's locket. They were on a cart with stuff that was going to be thrown away at the police station, but I snagged them. I thought you might be able to…"

"Get them to Jack," Saberwolf finished.

Sari nodded. Saberwolf took the two items. She put the locket around the bear's neck. She nodded to Sari, who gave her a smile. She knew from reading the files she'd shown Powell that Jack lived outside the city in a lake house. It was a little far away, but Saberwolf was more than happy to make the journey.

"I'll make sure he gets them tonight," Saberwolf said.

* * *

Jackson Darby awoke from the darkness to find himself lying in his bed. It was late, and his room was filled with curtain-filtered moonlight. He heard a faint tapping sound on his window. He looked over at the window and stared at it. The curtains were drawn closed and he couldn't see what was making the noise. He wondered whether he should go check or close his eyes and return to the numb darkness. Right now he felt pain. So much pain. The darkness had no feelings. He liked no feelings. He wanted to escape from the pain.

But something seemed to beckon him towards the window. He decided to get up and go check out what it was. He forced his heavy arms and legs to move and rolled out of his bed. He walked over to the window and tentatively pulled back one of the curtains. He gasped at what he saw.

There in the flower planter under his window was a little teddy bear. The teddy bear he'd begged his parents to get him for his birthday. He didn't think he'd ever get one now that his parents were never coming home again. This one was singed and missing part of its ear, but it was _there_. And he had a feeling it was for him.

And around the teddy's neck was his mother's locket. When he saw this, Jack's eyes opened wide and he quickly pulled a stool over and opened his window. He reached out and grabbed the teddy bear, not even noticing the cold wind that blew in. He held the bear in one hand and the locket in another. His mother's locket was so pretty. He'd always loved to look at the miniature picture inside. It was something he'd lost all hope of ever seeing again, yet there it was, a little burnt, but still there in his hand. Tears filled his eyes as he hugged the teddy bear close. It smelled burnt.

Jack hugged the bear for a while, then noticed the cold. He looked up at the window and reached to close it. But a movement outside caught his eye and made him stop.

The view from Jack's window was of the driveway. It was a gravel driveway that was on a slope. On the top of the slope was a black and gold robotic dog. Jack looked more carefully and noticed a red Autobot sticker on it.

_Saberwoof…_

He'd seen her on TV. and once in the park. She was one of the good alien robots. As he made eye contact with her, she bowed her head to him. Jack waved in reply. Then she tilted her head up to the moon and let out a long, low howl. It was a sad sound. Jack suddenly got the feeling she knew exactly what he was going through. He closed his eyes and let the howl comfort him. It dulled the pain. He kept his eyes closed for a while after the howl was over. When he opened them, she was gone. Jack closed the window to ward off the cold winter air. He put back the stool to its proper place and let the curtain fall over the window again. He crawled back into his bed with the teddy. He held it close and sniffed it. It smelled burnt, but Jack could just barely pick up the faint smell of his mom and dad. That combined with the picture combined with seeing the Autobot wolf, Jack suddenly felt less alone.

* * *

**_Poll, poll poll! until i get at least 12 unique voters, i will continue to rant about the poll! _**


	26. Chapter 26

_**Another stepping stone chapter. This is possibly the last time I'll be doing things in parts. But this would have been way, way, waaaay too long a one part.**_

_** I'm not sure how long each chapter of this little bit will be, or how many parts there will be. I'm hoping for no more than four. It all depends on where I think would make the most dramatic cliffhanger. Anyway, please enjoy the next few chapters. **_

_**Warning: The next few chapters will be a mix of dialogue and flashbacks. so be prepared for a lot of long paragraphs and page break lines. and also, a lot of sadness.**_

_**Disclaimer: Hasbro owns transformers.**_

* * *

**Chapter 26: Story Time (Part 1)**

The cold winter was melting into spring. Birds were returning to the tree in Prowl's room, often waking Saberwolf with their songs in the morning. Trees were beginning to grow back their leaves and animals were returning from hibernation. Mittens was now pregnant, her belly was starting to swell. Saberwolf had taken her in as soon as she noticed, telling the others she'd seen her around the park and the base rather than telling them she found her in Prowl's room. Sari had been more than happy to help take care of her.

The whole time, there had been little human threats and not a single shred of Decepticon activity. It was as if they'd disappeared. Everyone was still on guard, but the team was beginning to wonder what was taking them so long to show up. They contacted the Autobot Council about it, and they had no idea about it either.

Even though the threat was still there, the team had started to loosen up again. Optimus said once that it was sort of like things were back to normal. As if Megatron had never been captured in the first place. It was a somewhat sad statement, if one were to really _think_ about it, but for some reason, it helped the team relax a little. They no longer had to travel in pairs all the time, and the amount of patrols had lessened a little.

But the team was still under orders to leave as soon as they got all the AllSpark fragments gathered up. Saberwolf, after discovering she had the ability to use processor-over-matter, was able to gather a few when she went on patrol, but it was strenuous and she couldn't do it often, or the others would start to suspect something.

Prowl had been extremely shocked by her ability to use POM with such a basic understanding of it. He'd started to explain it to her in more depth, and the more he did the better she was able to do it. He had her practice often, taking her to abandoned factories and other places where she could open doors and windows, move objects. He did it with her once, moving around rocks at an old mining facility*. They were both surprised to find that when they worked together, they could move things with ease. They were amazingly attuned to each other, and they had been awed by the power of their joint ability.

After that Prowl didn't hesitate to move along quickly in his instruction. They would cover something new every night, rather than go over things. Saberwolf enjoyed this because it provided a better challenge. She was able to keep up with Prowl well, and got better and better at sparring with him, despite not using her weapons.

Sparring was what they were currently doing, in a clearing on Dinobot Island, and Prowl was putting her through her paces. Prowl had put a metal blindfold over her visor and was telling her moves to do.

She knew Prowl was dodging every move. She couldn't sense him in her usual way, but somehow she was able to feel where his body was moving. Saberwolf assumed it had something to do with her training. That being the case, she could tell she was getting much better. Prowl was just barely able to dodge her moves.

"Five Servos of Doom."

Saberwolf completed the last move just as fluidly as the others. She jumped back when she was done and readied for the next command. But instead, Prowl started moving towards her. Saberwolf tensed, expecting some sort of surprise attack. Prowl removed the blindfold. Saberwolf raised her head towards him and saw a nostalgic look in his optics.

"You have advanced quickly, Saberwolf," Prowl said, "You are now a ninja worthy of a weapon."

Saberwolf nodded, and expected him to return her katana. But instead, he disappeared. Saberwolf jumped up and looked around body tensing. She could no longer feel his presence, and that disturbed her. She rushed over to the middle of the clearing, where her weapons and tools had been left, and grabbed her blade. She raised it defensively and waited.

After a few minutes, a blue figure entered her right peripheral. She turned to it, spark pounding with anticipation. It was Prowl.

"What the—Where did you go?" she asked, sheathing her sword.

"I went to get these," Prowl said, walking over and showing her what was in his hands.

They were two gold shuriken. Prowl put them in her hands. They were really there.

"These… These are yours…" Saberwolf looked at him in confusion.

"Yes. They were given to me when I was worthy of a weapon, and as I can't use them, I'm giving them to you now that you're ready," Prowl said.

Saberwolf felt extremely honored.

"But… Where did you get them? I thought they were on Cybertron…" Saberwolf said wonderingly, looking over the beautiful things in her hands.

"Sari demanded that they be put somewhere on Earth. The Autobots agreed and they were buried on this Island as a little memorial," Prowl explained, "I simply went and retrieved them. I had to walk back rather than just show up though. They can't warp around with me."

"Isn't that grave robbing?" Saberwolf asked.

"Well, they're mine, and my body is on Cybertron, so no. I don't think so," Prowl said with an amused smirk.

"Oh…"

Saberwolf looked at the shuriken, dumfounded by the fact that Prowl was giving them to her. They were his personal weapons. He'd told her how he'd acquired them.

"Thank you Prowl… I'm honored," Saberwolf said, meaning every word.

Prowl smiled.

"You've definitely earned it," Prowl said, "And now we can train with your katana as well."

Saberwolf smiled.

"Sounds great!" she said happily.

"Why don't you give the shuriken a try?" Prowl suggested.

Saberwolf nodded in agreement. She walked over to a tree and made two X marks in the bark. Then she backed up several meters and held the shuriken in her right hand. She aimed, then threw the shuriken. They landed perfectly; right on both Xs. Saberwolf smirked.

"Nice throw! You're really good at this," Prowl commented.

_You're really good at this…_

The statement echoed inside her processor, but not in Prowl's voice. Memories flooded into her head. She saw Ransack smiling at her, then he saw him giving her a disappointed look, then he was lying beneath her with his neck bent at a wrong angle…

Guilt punched Saberwolf in the side. She doubled over and groaned. She fell to her knees as memories and feelings mixed and collided.

"Saberwolf?"

Saberwolf growled and lashed out at Prowl in a sudden rush of anger and hatred. Her bright blue, energy blade hand went right through his face. The chill of it snapped her out of her rage, and snapped the memories back into the back of her processor. She stared at Prowl's shocked expression in horror.

"I'm so sorry," she said, realizing what she'd done.

If Prowl had been a live bot, she would have killed them. Sliced their head in half. She looked down at the ground in shame.

"It's okay," Prowl said, "Are you okay?"

Saberwolf almost said she was fine, but she couldn't lie to Prowl. So she shook her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Saberwolf didn't know how to answer that. She wanted a bot she could talk to about it. She wanted it desperately. But she feared what would happen if she started reliving her past. She might finally snap. She looked up at Prowl and found a great deal of concern in his optics. She stared into his optics, searching for something, anything, that would give her the strength to tell him everything. And she found it, thought she wasn't sure what it was. As she stared into his optics, she knew that she could tell him anything, and it would be okay.

So she nodded.

"But I'll have to start from the beginning, like, the very beginning," Saberwolf said, shifting into a more comfortable seated position.

Prowl nodded and sat down next to her, facing her.

"And please… Don't… Don't think any less of me," Saberwolf said.

Prowl gave her a confused look, but nodded. Saberwolf took in a large amount of air, then let out a long sigh.

"I was forged by Autobot Intelligence officer Chromia, and space-bridge tech Heavyload…"


	27. Chapter 27

**_So these next few chapters will be a combination of flashbacks and dialogue. I'm not sure how many parts it will take. The story of Saber's past is a long one. _**

**_Disclaimer: Hasbro owns Transformers, yadda, yadda, yadda. _**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

**Chapter 27: Story Time (Part 2)**

"They were the best creators any bot could ask for. They loved me, and told me so every day. And I loved them so much," Saberwolf felt her spark twist, "They worked a lot, but they always managed to make room for me in their schedule. They put me up on a pedestal really. Probably because finding a protoform at the time was really rare. They told me they'd been overjoyed when they'd found me.

"Anyway, my parents sometimes had to go off planet, or at least to the other side of the planet, for missions or jobs. Usually they were able to coordinate them so one of them was home with me while the other was away. And they always promised me that no matter what happened, they would always return. They said they would never ever leave me. And I always believed them. I had no reason not to.

"But one mission my mother received when I was a young bot, just starting school in fact, involved bringing along a space-bridge technician. My father was obviously the one to go. It was some sort of infiltration mission. I was never given the full details of it, but basically, they both had to go off planet for a while. I was left in the care of my parents' friends. They had a daughter as well. Her name was Rosanna. She was really nice and so were her parents. So I didn't really mind staying with them. As always my parents promised they would return. And, as always, I believed them."

Saberwolf shivered. She took a moment to compose herself before continuing. Prowl waited patiently.

"Only few deca-cycles in to their mission, Rosanna and I came home from school and found two Autobots talking to Rosanna's parents. They were big, and I remember Rosanna being afraid of them. I acted like I wasn't, just trying to be tough like my dad, but I actually found them very intimidating. We all went inside, and Rosanna and I were sent to work on our homework in our quarters. We left the room, but hung around in the hallway to eavesdrop…"

* * *

_"We found them just a few kilometers away from Junkion's main city. They… They're dead," came the big Autobot's voice from the living quarters._

_Rosanna gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, giving Saberwolf a horrified look. Saberwolf felt a rush of anger._

_ "LIAR!" she shouted as she ran into the living quarters._

_Saberwolf followed her._

_ "Rosanna!" Rosanna's mother scolded, "I thought you two were in your room!"_

_ "Eavesdropping is bad kiddos," said the big Autobot said._

_ "So's lying!" Saberwolf said angrily, "But you just did it!"_

_ "No I didn't," the Autobot said._

_ "Yes you did! You said my parents are dead! You're a liar!"_

_ "No child… You're parents are dead. Our team found them just this morning. I saw them with my own two optics," the Autobot said, squatting to her level and giving her a sympathetic look._

_ Saberwolf's ember of anger grew to a blaze. She felt her hands get hot and balled them into fists. She looked down at them and saw them glowing blue. She wondered why, but then decided she didn't care. All she cared about was punishing this Autobot for lying to her._

_ "Liar! Liar, liar, LIAR!" she screamed._

_She loosened her hands and lashed out with one of them. She felt her fingers tear through the Autobot's face like claws. The mech screamed and covered his face. Saberwolf heard a sizzling sound. She felt a bit of satisfaction watching the mech's pain._

_ "THAT"S WHAT YOU GET FOR LYING!"_

* * *

"After I lashed out at him, Rosanna's parents got really mad. I ran out of the house and took off down the street. I just kept running and running. Before I realized it, I was in the streets of Iacon. I'd never been there by myself before, and I got really caught up in the atmosphere of the place. I decided that I didn't ever want to go back to Rosanna's. Unfortunately, the Autobots back at Rosanna's house had called the base and they'd alerted all Autobots to on the lookout. And in Iacon there's a bunch of Autobots, so I was caught pretty quick.

"They took me back to my house and gave me a storage cube. They said to grab the ten things I cared about most. So I did, but when I came out of my room, there were Autobots everywhere. Gathering up everything that wasn't bolted down and putting it into storage cubes. I screamed at them to stop. They tried to tell me it was because they wanted to make sure my parents didn't leave any information about their mission at home. Of course, that was total bullshit. They were just clearing out the place for the next tenant."

Saberwolf shook her head in disgust.

"I freaked out on them again. I attacked another Autobot with my hands, and then I ran into my parents' room. I screamed at all the bots in there until they left. I grabbed one of the storage cubes they dropped and went into my mother's closet. I took her cape out of the box and put it in the storage cube along with the locket my dad had given me. I refused to let the Autobots get their hands on them. I locked the door so they couldn't get to me until I was ready to go. They, of course, broke down the door and got to me. I tried to fight them but they just sedated me and took me to their base. Long story—or part of story—short I was sent to an orphanage called Gear Head Place."

"Gear Head Place?" Prowl asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. Why do you sound so surprised?"

"That's where I was raised," Prowl said.

Saberwolf looked at him in shock.

"Really? When? I don't remember seeing you," Saberwolf said.

"I was grown up by the time you were there," Prowl said.

"Oh… When were you forged?"

"Before the war," Prowl said.

Saberwolf nodded.

"I was forged during the last few years of it," Saberwolf said.

Prowl nodded. Saberwolf sighed.

"So I lived in that orphanage until adolescence. Terrible neighborhood, but according to the nurses, or whatever they're called, the orphanage was around before the terrible neighborhood was," Saberwolf continued, "But turns out the terrible neighborhood worked to my advantage. I snuck out a lot and befriended some of the sleazy bots that were around. It was with their help that I was able to get off planet as a minor.

"Sneaking off Cybertron was really hard though, and getting to Junkion right away was impossible. I had to do a sort of planet hopping campaign. Bots weren't exactly thrilled to help a minor sneak around from planet to planet. And Junkion is one of the farthest planets from Cybertron, so it took me a long while to get there. I have a lot of stories from my 'planet hopping' that I can share with you," Saberwolf laughed a little, "Like how I managed to escape a Quintesson trial. _That_ is a good story…"

"I bet," Prowl said.

Saberwolf laughed a bit at the memory, then sighed some more, forcing her mind back on track. She cycled some air as she felt hysteria rising, and tried to calm down. Prowl seemed to sense her unease and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You don't have to continue," he said softly, sympathy in his optics.

"I actually _want_ to. I need someone else to know about it," Saberwolf said, looking into Prowl's optics.

They calmed her, and she was able to continue. Prowl moved his hand from her shoulder. He set it gently in hers. Saberwolf shivered, but didn't move away. She felt her spark beat quicken. She cycled some more air and focused on her story.

"When I finally got to Junkion, I was able to find the place my parents were, supposedly, killed," Saberwolf continued, involuntarily squeezing Prowl's hand as the word "killed" passed over her glossa, "There was a young mech there, waiting for me…"

* * *

_Saberwolf wasn't sure what to do next. She'd found the sight of her parents' "deaths" and had hoped it would lead to some sort of important discovery. But she found herself disappointed. There was nothing there. Not one shred of evidence._

What do I do now?

_Saberwolf watched as the Junkions hustled about their way. They didn't even realize they were walking in the same street that two bots had been 'murdered'. Saberwolf glanced around but had no idea what to do with what she was seeing. It was just an average day on Junkion. Her parents had been long forgotten. _

Just like on Cybertron.

_ "Looking for something?"_

_Saberwolf jumped as the voice broke into her thoughts. She turned around to see a mech about her age standing behind her. He was thin, with big shoulders and large gauntlet-like plating on his forearms. His helmet was shaped like some sort of hat with a bill, and the metal pieces above his audio-receptors suck up and back like little fins. He had half wheels on his legs, and Saberwolf could see a sort of backpack on his back where she guessed there was a whole one. She assumed he was some sort of motorcycle. His chest was green, his shoulders black with gold accents. He had white arms, the gauntlets black. And his upper legs were white. His lower leg plating was black. The wheel halves were the same color of green as his chest, and Saberwolf inferred that the one on his back was the same. His helm was black with one white strip on top. His pedes were black. He was a bit taller than Saberwolf. He had kind looking optics. But there was something wrong to them. The color seemed off._

Red? But I thought only Decepticons had those…

_Saberwolf took a better look at the mech and noticed the purple symbol on his chest. It was so blatant; Saberwolf wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. She jumped into a defensive stance, narrowing her optics and letting raising her arms in front of her. _

_ "Whoa, whoa! I'm not gonna hurt ya," the mech said._

_He followed her optics to the symbol on his chest and sighed._

_ "I wish I could take this thing off," he said, covering it with his hand._

_Saberwolf cocked her head in confusion._

_ "Who are you? What do you want?" She asked coldly._

_ "My name is Ransack. And I was told to wait here for you," the mech, Ransack, said._

_ "What?" Saberwolf glared at him, "Why?"_

_She spat the word 'why'. Ransack laughed as he looked her over._

_ "You really do fit the description I was given. 'Young, scrappy, but has no idea what she's doing'," Ransack said with amusement, "You know, you're never gonna win a fight with a stance like that."_

_Saberwolf came out of her stance and stood, looking rather self-conscious._

_ "What was wrong with my stance?" she asked._

_Ransack just shook his head dismissively. There was a moment of silence._

_ "Why are you here waiting for me?" Saberwolf asked suspiciously, breaking the silence._

_ "I can help you with what you're looking for," Ransack said._

_ "Oh really? And what's that?" Saberwolf said icily._

_ "I have information on your parents," Ransack said, "I know where to go to help you find them. Bots you can talk to, everything. But you have to trust me."_

_Saberwolf eyed the young mech suspiciously. The symbol on his chest and the color of his optics made her not want to trust him. But there was truth in his optics. And somewhere inside, she had this feeling that he was a good bot. So she nodded._

_ "Alright," she said._

_Ransack gave her a kiddish smile._

_ "Great. Follow me," he said._

_Saberwolf followed him through the streets of whatever Junkion city they were in, sticking as close to his side as possible so she wouldn't lose sight of him in the crowds. They walked along the main road for a while, then down a short alley. At the end of the alley was a big vacant building. Ransack put his hand on the wall of the building, just under one of the windows. _

_ "Decepticon Identified. Welcome Ransack," said an automated femme's voice._

_The building suddenly disintegrated and revealed a ship underneath._

_ "Holograph," Ransack explained, "I really wish it didn't alert everyone inside the ship that you enter though."_

_Ransack laughed a little and gave Saberwolf an amused look. Saberwolf didn't understand what was so funny. Ransack looked a little disappointed, but nonetheless he continued onto the ship and gestured for Saberwolf to follow. _

_ "Autobot energy signature detected," said the ship, turrets coming out of the walls and pointing at Saberwolf. _

_Saberwolf jumped and raised her arms defensively, letting them heat up with energy._

_ "Weapon detected. Deadly force has been authorized."_

_Saberwolf's optics went wide._

_ "Stand down! Autobot _is_ authorized! Package 501 Zeta!" Ransack said urgently._

_ "Vocal command understood. Standing down."_

_Saberwolf didn't relax until the turrets were completely out of sight._

_ "What was that all about?" Saberwolf spat at Ransack._

_Ransack shook his head._

_ "That program was supposed to be bypassed. Probably Crumplezone messing with us. Really, he means no harm," Ransack said._

Right. I believe that.

_ "Crumplezone!" Ransack called, walking towards the cockpit. _

_Saberwolf followed him and heard a deep rumbling laughter. It sounded surprisingly friendly._

_ "Like my welcome wagon?" a big bot stepped into view._

_He was mostly green and black, and appeared to be some sort of huge Cybertronian car. His windshield made up his chest and was tinted blue, with green and black metal rimming it. His head seemed small and his lower jaw stuck out more than his upper jaw did. He had blue wheels in his arms with big green wing like things on the sides. His upper legs were white and his upper arms were bright green. The rest of his body was mostly black. And he was massive. Saberwolf could tell he was about the same age as Ransack. But he was the size of a full grown mech. Saberwolf had a feeling that he was still due for some frame changes. _

Primus…

_ "Ask her," Ransack said, gesturing to Saberwolf._

_ "You're an Autobot?" Crumplezone's deep voice boomed, "You sure as hell don't look like one."_

_ "My parents are Autobots, making me one by default. Trust me, I'm not one. I despise the Autobots," Saberwolf said._

_ "Really? Cool! Even your parents?" Crumplezone asked._

_ "Of course not my parents!" Saberwolf snapped. _

_ "But… they're Autobots," Crumplezone looks confused._

_ "Yes. They're the good kind of Autobots. The Autobots on Cybertron are bad. They lie. And they take your parents' stuff. And they put you in a shithole of a home! I hate _those_ kinds of Autobots."_

_Crumplezone nodded._

_ "Well, we can change your energy signature for ya. Later of course. For now, make yourself comfortable. We have a long flight ahead of us," Crumplezone said, "I'll try not to run into anything."_

_Crumplezone laughed, then went to the pilot's seat._

_ Saberwolf went back to the little seating area she'd seen near the entrance of the ship. Ransack followed her._

_ "Doesn't he need help in there?" Saberwolf asked nervously._

_ "Nah, he's the best pilot I've ever seen! I honestly don't know why he's a car. He'd be better as a big plane or something," Ransack said._

_Saberwolf found that hard to believe. _

_ "Really. He's a great pilot," Ransack said._

_Saberwolf wasn't sure what it was, but something about Ransack made her trust him. So she nodded. _

_The flight only took about three mega-cycles and it landed them on a large asteroid well away from any of the planets. Saberwolf got a chill as she looked at it._

_ "Here? Are you sure we're not lost?" Saberwolf asked._

_Ransack nodded and gave her a serious look._

_ "Okay, listen to me and listen good. I won't repeat myself," he said firmly._

_Saberwolf nodded, shaking a little as she noticed a sudden flash of fear in his optics._

_ "When we get inside the base, you are to stick to my side like your life depends on it. Because it does," Ransack said._

_Saberwolf nodded, feeling her own fear gnawing at her._

_ "Do exactly as I do, and above all, do _not _speak unless I signal that it's okay. I'll nod to you as a signal, so watch me," Ransack said, "Crumplezone and I may be nice, but the others won't be. Trust me. They won't hesitate to hurt or even kill you. So don't talk to anyone, don't approach anyone, don't even _look_ at anyone. Understand?"_

_ "Y-yes," Saberwolf stammered._

_Ransack nodded and looked a little relieved. _

_ "Follow me."_

_Saberwolf complied. She followed him out onto the asteroid. They walked up to a big boulder._

_ "Umm… what—"_

_Ransack touched the side of the boulder and it transformed into a big door. It opened to a small elevator. Ransack entered, Saberwolf right at his side. They caught a glimpse of the ship they'd arrived on being lowered into the ground before the doors closed. The lights inside the elevator were a dim purple. Saberwolf didn't like the lack of vision. She edged closer to Ransack and grabbed his arm fearfully. Ransack stiffened a little, but relaxed and sighed when he looked over his shoulder at her._

He's on edge too. That can't be a good sign… Primus, what have I gotten myself into?

_The ride was long, as Ransack had selected the lowest floor, and when they finally got to the bottom, Saberwolf's optics had adjusted to the dim light. Ransack led her into a big room with many hallways branching off of it. There was also two big doors, directly across from the elevator, that were guarded by two large Decepticons. Ransack walked right up to one of them. He wore an indifferent look, but Saberwolf could feel him shaking. She'd forgotten to let go of his arm. And now she was too scared to do so._

_ "I have what he asked for," Ransack said, voice bland, "Package 501 Zeta." _

_Saberwolf recognized the code. She wondered what it referred to._

_ "Is that it?" one of the Decepticons asked, giving Saberwolf a condescending look. _

_Saberwolf got somewhat angry at this and gave him a defiant glare. Then she remembered what Ransack had told her and looked away quickly._

_ "Yes," Ransack said._

I'm Package 501 Zeta? That means, I'm what _he,_ whoever he is, asked for? Why would any Decepticon ask for me?

_ "Well, go in then. He's been expecting you," the Decepticon said._

_The doors creaked open and Ransack walked through the opening. Saberwolf followed. They were now in a big hallway, with even dimmer lights. Saberwolf wondered what kind of bot would want to sulk around in the dark._

_ Her question was answered when they were ushered, by another set of guards, through another set of big, ornate doors. Then she saw who _he_ was._

Megatron?

_Saberwolf froze at the sight of the Decepticon warlord. Ransack had to pull her along to the center of the room. Saberwolf's intakes grew more rapid and her spark pulsed with fear as her optics took in the scene._

_Megatron was sitting in a big throne. It was carved out of stone, and there was a scene carved all around the bottom that depicted a massive battle between Autobots and Decepticons, in which whoever sat on the throne had survived and won. There were piles of dead bots shown. Saberwolf shivered at the sight of it. _

Megatron? What would he want with me? I thought I was supposed to find information on my parents?

_ "Ransack, you've kept me waiting," Megatron's deep, menacing voice interrupted her thoughts, "You know how I feel about waiting."_

_Ransack stepped forward, knelt, and lowered his head. _

_ "I apologize, my Lord," Ransack said, voice lightly shaky, "The package took longer to arrive than was expected."_

_Ransack tilted his head slightly to look at Saberwolf._

_ 'Kneel' he mouthed._

_The only move Saberwolf could make was to shake with fear._

_ "I see," Megatron's gaze fell on Saberwolf, "And how was your flight, girl?"_

_Saberwolf looked at Ransack. He gave a light nod as he stood from his kneel and folded his hands behind his back. He looked straight ahead, optics focused forward, but not on anything in particular. Saberwolf nervously looked up at Megatron. He had a bored look on his face. This made Saberwolf slightly angry._

He _wanted_ me to come here. Why's he so disinterested?

_"Fine," she said in a cold tone, "But I was told I would get information on my parents. So why are we chit-chatting like a bunch of little femmes?"_

_Megatron gave her an amused look. Ransack's optics flashed with fear._

_ "You're a brave one, aren't you?" Megatron asked, "Well, let's get down to business then."_

_Saberwolf felt a sudden rush of anticipation. Ransack looked relieved._

_ "Well, let me start by saying your parents are not dead," Megatron said, "We staged their deaths by forging empty shells that looked like your parents and setting them up so they looked like they were murdered. We did this at their request._

_ "You see, they've committed crimes against me. They entered my base pretending to be new recruits, and tried to gather intelligence on my latest plans. They were sending reports of their findings back to the Autobots. But your father has a weakness for oil and high-grade, not unusual for a bot who hails from Junkion, and after having a little too much, couldn't keep quiet. He openly admitted to being an Autobot, and a spy, and that your mother was the same."_

_Saberwolf shook her head in disbelief. She knew her father had similar blunders when he dipped into the high-grade, but they were usually small ones that merely landed him an audio-receptor full from her mother. _

_ "Needless to say, they tried to escape, but both ultimately failed and were thrown into the brig, where they are now being punished for impersonating Decepticon warriors, espionage, and assaulting Decepticon warriors," Megatron said with a devilish smirk, "And trust me, punishments here are not as nice as the ones the Autobots use."_

_Saberwolf knew what that meant. Her parents were being tortured._

_ "How dare you! Let them go now! Or I'll, I'll…" Saberwolf felt her hands getting hot._

_ "You're courage surprises me, girl," Megatron said, "Tell me, what will you do?"_

_Megatron leaned forward in his big throne. Saberwolf noticed, for the first time, the large cannon on his arm. Her spark skipped with fear. _

_ "I'll… I'll…" Saberwolf imagined her parents tied up somewhere being tortured._

_The thought filled her with anger. She looked over at Ransack. He was giving her a warning look. He shook his head, and deep in his optics was fear. Saberwolf looked up at Megatron. The look in his eyes seemed to urge her to answer. Saberwolf felt a rush of defiance._

_ "I'll kill you," she said, voice like dry ice._

_Megatron laughed at her._

_ "I'm afraid that's as unnecessary as it is possible," Megatron said._

_Saberwolf was surprised that she hadn't been thrown in the brig for threatening him. Ransack looked just as surprised, but he also looked relieved._

_ "What do you mean?" she asked._

_ "I have a task that I need completed. If someone were to complete it on your parents' behalf, I will let them go, all charges dropped," Megatron said._

_Saberwolf's anger faded to hope. She opened her mouth to accept the task._

_ "Before you say anything, know this," Megatron said, "The task is very difficult, requires lots of training, and will not even be fully explained to you until you have completed all the proper training. This is not something to be taken lightly."_

_Saberwolf nodded._

_ "I'll do it. Whatever I have to do, I'll do it," Saberwolf said._

_ "Perfect," Megatron said, "Well then, you're parents punishment will be halted for now. If you succeed, you are all free to go. But if you fail, you will watch your parents die by my hand! Is that understood?" _

_Saberwolf nodded again._

_ "Well then, Ransack," Megatron turned his gaze to the young mech, "Take her and find her a place for recharge. You will be her guide. I expect you to oversee her training. If she does anything to get into trouble, it will fall on you. Understood?"_

_ "Yes, my liege," Ransack said, bowing._

_ "Get out of my presence. Both of you," Megatron said._

_Ransack bowed again, then lead Saberwolf out. They went back to the elevator to go to the recharge quarters. Once the doors to the elevator closed, Ransack grabbed Saberwolf's shoulders and pinned her firmly to the wall. His grip didn't hurt, but Saberwolf flinched at the anger in his optics._

_ "What the hell were you thinking? Talking to Megatron like that! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Ransack said._

_Saberwolf saw the anger in his optics was mixed with worry._

_ "Why do you care?" she asked._

_Ransack hesitated. He let go of her shoulders and backed up._

_ "I don't know… I just… I don't want you to get hurt," Ransack said, "I hate when innocent bots get hurt."_

_Saberwolf nodded, fully understanding._

_ "Well, I guess I'll have to pay close attention to you so I can learn what I can and can't do then," Saberwolf said._

_ "And mind that temper of yours," Ransack said jokingly._

_ "Is it that obvious?" _

_ "Yeah." _

_Saberwolf's faceplates grew warm with embarrassment. _

_ "I'll have to work on that," she said._

_The elevator door opened and revealed another dark hallway. This one was lined with doors._

_ "You guys sure like the dark here," Saberwolf said._

_ "You'll get used to it," Ransack said, "Come on, you can room with me and Crumplezone. We have a huge room. Mostly cuz of Crumplezone."_

_Ransack laughed. Saberwolf smiled. She followed Ransack down the hall._

_ As she settled in to her new quarters, she reflected on the day. She thought about her conversation with Megatron._

If you fail, you will watch your parents die by my hand!

_Megatron's voice echoed in her mind._

_ "Then I won't fail," Saberwolf mumbled to herself._

* * *

**_I'd like to say THANKS SO MUCH! for the 14 people who participated (so far) in my Jetfire/Jetstorm poll. It will be closing in approx. three days (from the posting of this chapter), so anyone who hasn't participated but wants to, now would be the time. Your opinion is greatly appreciated! :)_**


	28. Chapter 28

_**I am soooo sorry for how long it took to post this! Procrastination mixed with writers block mixed with need for editing mixed with a busy schedule. I AM SO SORRY! anyway, this is the last part of Saberwolf's sad past. The next chapter will go along with it, but it's not her past. well, hope you enjoy!**_

_**All rights are reserved to their respective companies. yadda, yadda, yadda...**_

* * *

**Chapter 28: Story Time (Part 3)**

Saberwolf paused for a moment and watched Prowl's reaction. He was thinking about what she said, and he appeared to be angry. Saberwolf couldn't tell who or what he was mad at. But he didn't say anything, so Saberwolf continued.

"My training took a really long time. The whole time I was worried about my parents. I was never allowed to see them, but Ransack made sure Megatron kept his word about my parents not being tortured. I almost all of my days were spent training. Ransack would set up special sessions with many different Decepticons. I learned so much… It's amazing really, the things you can learn from Decepticons. The way they use all of their knowledge is terrible though…

"After I finished my training, Megatron sent for me.

* * *

_Saberwolf walked to the center of the dark throne room. She stared straight in to Megatron's optics and stood tall._

_ "Yes?" she asked, purposely making it sound like his summoning of her was a bother._

_Megatron's optics narrowed. He balled up his fists, then loosened them. Saberwolf smirked. Megatron sighed lightly, pushing away his angry look for a more calm one._

_ "Hmm… I'd heard you got yourself a visor," he said casually, "I have to admit it suits you."_

_ "Well Swindle has an optic for designing things. He tailored this to fit my helm perfectly," Saberwolf said._

_ "I see. And did you like the sword I had him design for you?" Megatron asked._

_Saberwolf's optics narrowed. She felt a slight loss of love for her new weapon._

_ "It's very unique," Saberwolf said, "Now let's cut this chatty bullshit and get down to business. I assume that since you summoned me, I've completed my training for the task, and now you're going to give me the details."_

_ "You're a smart femme," Megatron said, "Yes, that is exactly why you are here."_

_ "Great. Then start debriefing," Saberwolf said, crossing her arms._

_Saberwolf could sense the massive amount of control he was using to keep from coming over and beating her senseless. She also knew he wouldn't do that. Because he needed her to get this task done. He wouldn't have anyone else do it now; not after all the time and resources spent to prepare her._

_ "Your task is, at its roots, a simple one," Megatron said, "You are to return to Cybertron via the ship we will provide you with, infiltrate a housing unit, and kidnap this mech."_

_Megatron hit a switch on a little remote he had and a visual screen projected down from the ceiling. Displayed on the screen was an old looking mech. He had a hard face, and at the top of the screen, there was a name. _

Kup… I think I've heard of him…

_The name seemed familiar, but she'd heard lots of names while on Cybertron. _

Well, the task seems simple enough.

_ "What's the catch?" Saberwolf asked._

_ "Read his specs," Megatron said._

_As Saberwolf did so, her confidence flopped._

Shit…

_Kup was an excellent warrior. Even though he was close to retirement, he was still outstanding in pretty much everything. And he had experience. Saberwolf felt instantly outmatched. _

_ "That took the smugness right out of you, didn't it," Megatron said with an amused look._

_Saberwolf clenched her fists. _

_ "I'll get the task done. Just give me all the info I'll need, and it'll get done," Saberwolf said._

_ "Of course you will. Here," Megatron tossed Saberwolf a holo-note, "That has everything you need to know. You can read it on your way back to Cybertron. I'll have someone show you to your new ship."_

_ "Great."_

_ "Leave my presence," Megatron said, waving his hand dismissively._

_ "Gladly."_

_Saberwolf tucked the holo-note away and turned to leave. She could feel Megatron's displeasure at her attitude. She smirked as she left the throne room._

_ She waited in the lounge area for her guide. After about a mega-cycle, there were footsteps behind her. Saberwolf turned to see Ransack walking into the room. He wore a very unhappy look. And there was a crack under his optic that wasn't there before._

_ "Ransack!" Saberwolf ran over to him, "What happened to your face?"_

_Saberwolf reached out to hold his helm still so she could examine the wound. Ransack tilted his head away and backed out of her reach._

_ "I'm fine," he said, "C'mon, I'm supposed to show you to your ship."_

_He started walking out of the lounge and motioned for her to follow. Saberwolf did so reluctantly. They took the elevator up several floors. The whole ride was silent. Saberwolf kept giving Ransack concerned looks, but he wouldn't look at her._

_ When they reached their destination, the elevator stopped and opened its doors to a huge hangar filled with many rows of ships. A lot of them were small cruisers, and there were a few medium sized ships. There were some big battle ships, and one giant ship that completely surpassed the others in grandeur. It was built with a lot of sharp angles and it was massive. It was shiny and very well kept. Saberwolf stared at it in awe as they walked by it. _

_ "Whoa…" _

_ "That's the _Nemesis._ Megatron' personal aircraft. The flagship of the whole fleet," Ransack said, "Only the Elites and a select few others are allowed to go near it. The rest of us are only allowed to gawk at it from a distance."_

_ "It's amazing…" Saberwolf said._

_She'd taken an interest in ships since learning to pilot them. She found the _Nemesis_ quite alluring._

Everything Megatron has is upscale…

_ "It's terrifying. You haven't seen it in action," Ransack said._

_Saberwolf looked over at him. His optics were distant. Saberwolf wondered where he'd "seen it in action."_

_ Ransack stopped in front of a shiny, new-looking ship. It was all black, and was decently sized. Saberwolf was impressed. _

_ "I get to fly that?" she asked._

_ "Don't get too excited. It may look new, but that's only cuz it was cleaned and given a new paint job. It's a few stellar-cycles old. It's got a small room for sleeping quarters, a brig, a storage area, and the cockpit. It's smaller than the one me and Crumplezone picked you up in," Ransack informed, "But for what you're doing it's fine."_

_ "Is it mine? To keep?" Saberwolf asked._

_Ransack shook his head._

_ "Damn…" Saberwolf said dejectedly._

_ "You really think Megatron would give you your own ship?" Ransack asked._

_ "A femme can dream, can't she?" Saberwolf said jokingly._

_Ransack just shook his head. Saberwolf huffed angrily._

_ "What the hell's the matter with you? You're all 'gloom and doom'!" Saberwolf said, crossing her arms._

_ "Sorry," Ransack gave her an apologetic smile, "I just had a bad day is all. Didn't mean to rain on your parade."_

_Saberwolf uncrossed her arms._

_ "It's okay," she said, "I'm just oversensitive sometimes."_

_ "That's putting it mildly," Ransack said with a smirk._

_ "Shut up!" Saberwolf said, punching Ransack's arm playfully._

_Ransack just laughed._

_ "You're gonna need to do better than that if you wanna survive this task!"_

_Saberwolf smirked. She dropped into a crouch and leg-swept Ransack. He fell down ungracefully and Saberwolf pinned his chest down with her foot. She drew her sword and held it to his throat, giving him a superior grin._

_ "Better?" she asked._

_Ransack laughed._

_ "It's a start," he said._

_ "Whatever," Saberwolf rolled her optics and helped Ransack up._

_ "Well, I guess you have everything you need now. You don't need Crumplezone to come show you how to fly this thing do ya?" Ransack asked._

_ "Of course not," Saberwolf said._

_ "Well then, I guess you'd better be off," Ransack said._

_Saberwolf sighed._

_ "Yeah… I got bots depending on me," she said._

_There was silence for a moment._

_ "Well I guess this is goodbye for a while then," Ransack said._

_ "It won't be that long," Saberwolf said._

_ "I'm going on a mission too. I have some things to pick up and messages to deliver. I don't know when I'll be back," Ransack said, "I may not return until after you and your parents have left."_

_ "Oh…" _

_Saberwolf was saddened by this news. Ransack was her best friend. And she may never see him again._

_ "Yeah…"_

_Saberwolf sighed._

_ "I guess this is goodbye then," she said._

_Ransack looked at her, optics filled with something Saberwolf couldn't identify. He opened his arms and pulled Saberwolf into a hug. Saberwolf hugged him back. _

_ "Bye, hot head," Ransack said teasingly._

_ "Bye, scaredy bot," Saberwolf teased back._

_Ransack let her go and walked her back of the ship, handing over the control/startup codes. Saberwolf hit the button to lower the ramp. When it was fully lowered, she started up. At the top of the ramp, she turned to wave goodbye to Ransack and saw him running up the ramp to her._

_ "Forget to give me something?" Saberwolf asked._

_ "Yeah," Ransack said with an urgent expression._

_ "Well, give it!" Saberwolf urged, holding out her hand to receive whatever he need to give her._

_Ransack glanced down at her hand and then back up to her face. He took her hand in his, pulled her closer and touched his lips gently to hers. Saberwolf's optics grew wide with shock. Ransack pulled away._

_ "Bye," he said._

_Then he ran down the ramp._

_ "Bye," Saberwolf said quietly, hand still waiting for something to be put in it._

_She watched as Ransack left the hangar, body frozen. She blinked a few times and shook herself. She hit the button to raise the ramp and started walking toward the cockpit of the ship. She sat down in the pilot's chair and hit a button on the control. It shot a cable into one of the ports on the ships control panel and uploaded the startup codes. Saberwolf started preparing the ship for take-off. She activated the COM link to the bot at the hangar control._

_ "This is the _Striker_ requesting the hangar doors open for take-off," Saberwolf said, reading the name of the ship from the control panel._

_ "This is control, hangar doors are being opened. We'll have some bots guide you."_

_ "Thank you."_

_Saberwolf took the steering controls in her hands. She lifted the ship easily, and steered it in the direction the bots on the ground were signaling. The ship handled well and she got it to the right place to take off from quickly._

_ "This is control. You're clear for take-off."_

_ "Copy that. _Striker_ out."_

_Saberwolf shut of the COM and lifted the ship up through the hangar doors. She went straight up until she was clear of the asteroid that the base was located in, then set her heading and set the ship at a medium speed. She steered manually until she was clear of the asteroid field, then set autopilot and cranked the speed up to its highest setting. She leaned back in her chair and thought about Ransack's goodbye._

What was that all about anyway? We're just friends…

_Saberwolf liked it that way. A friend and her parents were the only things she wanted right now. _

I'll have to figure out a way to let him know some time… But right now I have a mission.

_Saberwolf pulled the holo-note Megatron gave her out of the pocket on her hip and started to read through the information on it._

* * *

Saberwolf paused again. Prowl wore an unreadable expression. Saberwolf wondered if it had been a good idea to tell him about Ransack's goodbye.

_Well, I had no reason not to…_

Saberwolf sighed and continued.

"The flight to Cybertron seemed even longer this time around. I grew more and more nervous as I got closer. I was a wreck by the time I touched down at Kup's house. I had to take a few moments to compose myself. I got in to the house and followed a map that had been included in the holo-note. I passed by a child's room and was stupid enough to go inside. I rushed right back out and again had to take a few moments before I could continue. When I finally got into Kup's room and looked in his stasis pod, he was gone. Well, not gone, just hiding and waiting for me to come in. He had a gun charged up and ready to shoot me with. I miraculously managed to disarm him and stasis-cuff him. I took him out the back of the house and put him on my ship. As I was leaving, I noticed a bot watching from a rooftop. I freaked out and rushed to get the ship in the air. Then I strapped him into one of the chairs in the brig. It was meant as some sort of torture device, but I broke all the instruments off. I couldn't bring myself to lock him up in one of the dark, dirty cells…"

Prowl smirked at this.

"Yeah, I'm real nice, aren't I?" Saberwolf said with a half laugh, "We had a conversation after we were clear of Cybertron."

"Really? How'd that go?"

"He wasn't happy…"

* * *

_"Why do you do this?" Kup shouted._

_ "I told you already, Kup sir," Saberwolf said, feeling a sudden rush of strength as she spoke, "To save my parents' lives."_

_Kup fell silent for a while. Saberwolf looked down at her lap._

_ "Well… I guess… I guess in a way it's… sort of…"_

_Saberwolf glanced up at Kup. He appeared to be attempting to find something that made Saberwolf's actions sound better. _

_ "Don't try to dulcify it, sir," Saberwolf said, "I screwed up. I'm selfish and horrible. I really am no better than a Decepticon…"_

_Saberwolf stood. _

_ "But what's done is done. I can't turn back now…" she said, voice heavy with grief, "I apologize again, even if that means nothing to you."_

_She turned and started walking back to the cockpit._

_ "Wait."_

_Saberwolf hesitantly stopped in the doorway. She looked back, expecting anger and another rant._

_ But what she saw instead was understanding, concern, and sympathy. Saberwolf's optics widened._

_ "I get it kid, I do… It just sucks that kids like you get into this kind of scrap," Kup said, "I'm sorry for barking at you."_

_Saberwolf felt like someone had punched her in the chest. She didn't deserve even his sympathy, not to mention his apology. _

_ "Come over here for a cycle," Kup said, gesturing with his head._

_Saberwolf approached carefully, wondering if this was some sort of trap. _

_ "I ain't gonna bite ya," Kup assured._

_Saberwolf wasn't sure why, but she felt she could trust him. She stopped only a few steps away from him._

_ "See this charm around my neck?" _

_Saberwolf nodded._

_ "Take it and take a good look at it," Kup said._

_Saberwolf gave him a wary look._

_ "It won't hurt you, I promise," Kup said reassuringly._

_Saberwolf believed him, and carefully removed the strap on one of his arms. _

"_You take it off. I… I can't," Saberwolf said. _

"_You're the worst kidnapper ever," Kup said with a laugh._

_He took the charm off of his neck and handed it to her. Saberwolf took the charm and looked at it. It was a simple thing, a little handmade metal wheel on a string, and three beads with letters on them: K-U-P. Saberwolf couldn't help but smile. It was obvious that the little charm and beads were handmade, and buy young bots. The wheel wasn't a perfect circle. It was very crooked and the writing on the beads was somewhat sloppy. The beads were higher quality than the wheel, which lead Saberwolf to assume they were made by an older bot. Saberwolf's spark twisted as she looked at the charm. It looked like something she would have made for her father. _

_ "My daughters made that for me as a good luck charm," Kup explained, voice thick with nostalgia, "I want you to keep it."_

_ "W-what?" Saberwolf was stunned, "Y-you can't be serious."_

_ "Again with the stuttering?" Kup chuckled, "I am serious. It's a good luck charm. Maybe it can help you get out of this mess you're in. But you've got to promise me that you'll turn your life around. And as long as you carry that charm, you better carry out that promise."_

_Saberwolf couldn't speak for a moment. She lowered her head and shook with guilt. She tried to shove it back into his hand, but he wouldn't take it. _

_ "I can't take this from you. I can't…" she said softly._

_Kup smiled._

_ "I want you to. I want you to take that and promise to be a better bot," he said._

_Saberwolf was silent for a moment._

_ "I promise," she said, "But I'm only borrowing this. I'll give it back when I see you again."_

_Kup gave her a sad smile. They both knew that no matter what Megatron said, Kup was never leaving that base alive. But Saberwolf absolutely refused to accept it._

_ "Alright," Kup said._

_ The rest of the trip was mostly silent. Saberwolf ended up unstrapping Kup from the chair and letting him sit in the cockpit with her. She kept him in stasis-cuffs, knowing he could still try to escape. They stared out the window at the passing stars. Saberwolf would occasionally sing some songs she'd learned from the mechs she'd hung out with on Cybertron after moving to the orphanage. They were songs usually sung by mechs who'd had a little too much to drink, and the words weren't very tasteful, but the tunes were nice and it was calming. Kup knew them too, and he joined in sometimes. Saberwolf was surprised that he didn't ask where she'd learned them._

_ When they got to the base, Saberwolf took Kup's arm in her hand and he rose from his chair. They left the cockpit and walked down the ramp. They weren't even halfway down the ramp before Kup was ripped from Saberwolf's hands and dragged down by two hulking guards. Saberwolf was only mildly surprised. She followed the guards sullenly. She got a lot of surprised looks from bots as they passed. _

_ "What the…?"_

_ "She actually pulled it off!"_

_ "I don't believe it…"_

_Saberwolf tried to block out their voices. She ignored their looks. She kept her optics on Kup's back as they walked into the elevator. They descended the floors and stepped out. They passed one last bot on the way to Megatron's throne room. He gave Saberwolf an approving look._

_ "So you're finally one of us," he said._

_Saberwolf stopped as every reaction to the other comments she'd received smarmed her. She doubled over as if someone had punched her. Kup made an angry noise and pulled away from the guards who were holding him and ran towards the bot who'd spoken. He raised his cuffed hands and brought them down on the bot's face. The bot yelped and fell to the floor. As Saberwolf recovered, she looked back and saw a big crack in the bot's helm from where the cuffs had made contact. Kup grabbed the bot and pinned him to the wall of the narrow hallway. _

_ "She's most definitely _not_ one of you!" Kup growled._

_Saberwolf ran towards him before the other guards could get to him. She pulled him away from the Decepticon and pinned him to the opposite wall. _

_ "What are you doing?" she scolded._

_The guards yanked Kup away from her and proceeded to aggressively beat him. Saberwolf watched in horror. Kup grunted in pain, but he held a strong, stern look on his face. The bot Kup had hit walked over and punched Kup in the face. Then he turned and left. Saberwolf gave Kup an apologetic look. He gave her a reassuring smile. Saberwolf could tell he was fighting a lot of pain. He was dragged up and the group continued down the hall. _

_As the doors to the throne room opened, Saberwolf stood tall and let her face fall into a defiant mask. Megatron wore an approving look. Kup was dragged to the center of the room and pushed forward. He was weak from the beating and fell to his knees. He gave Megatron an angry look. _

"_So you're Megatron…" Kup said._

"_Did you expect any less?" Megatron said._

"_No, you're exactly what I expected," Kup said, optics narrowing, "A weak coward."_

_Megatron's optics became slits and his hands gripped the arms of his throne with more force. He cycled some air, then smirked._

"_Well, you're not at all what I expected," Megatron said._

"_Why thank you," Kup said smugly._

"_That wasn't a compliment."_

"_Oh? Then what did you mean?" Kup asked._

"_I was informed that you were a strong, skilled Autobot officer, yet you were bested by a mere young bot," Megatron said._

_Saberwolf felt a bit of anger at this._

A mere young bot?

_ "Her skill was great," Kup said, casting Saberwolf an approving glance._

_Saberwolf couldn't believe he was being so kind to her._

I guess some bots are just good by nature…

_ "Or yours was lacking," Megatron said condescendingly, "But that is no matter. I couldn't care less about your skill. All I want is your information."_

_ "Good luck getting it," Kup said, "I'm not easily broken."_

_ "Which means Shockwave will have more fun," Megatron said with a sinister grin._

_He waved his hand and the guards grabbed Kup. They dragged him to his feet and towards one of the doors to the left of the throne. Saberwolf tried to appear indifferent about it, but her spark twisted with guilt._

_ "Kup, wait!" she called just before they went through the door._

_She ran towards them. The guards paused for a moment and looked back at Megatron. Saberwolf glanced back to see Megatron shrug his shoulders. She turned forwards again and slowed down as she approached Kup._

_ "Yeah kiddo?"_

_Saberwolf removed her father's locket from around her neck and put it around Kup's._

_ "My father gave this to me a while ago. It's protected me from harm all these years, for the most part," Saberwolf said, "I want you to take it. Maybe it'll protect you too."_

_Kup shook his head._

_ "No, I can't—"_

_ "Do anything about it!" Saberwolf finished for him, "Just take it! We'll trade back when we see each other again."_

_Saberwolf knew it wouldn't happen. She knew she'd never see her locket again. But it made her feel better to give it to Kup. It didn't make up for what she'd done to him, but it helped a bit._

_ "Thanks kid," Kup said, giving her a sad look._

_Saberwolf nodded. She gave him a hug._

_ "I'm so sorry…" she whispered._

_ "It's alright… It's alright…" Kup said soothingly._

_The guards pulled him away. Saberwolf lowered her head as the door closed, feeling ashamed of what she'd done. _

_ "Your parents are waiting through that door," Megatron said._

_Saberwolf straightened up instantly and turned to see Megatron pointing out a door to his right. _

_ "Good work," he said._

_Saberwolf nodded, then ran to the door. She opened it and found a dimly lit hallway. She followed it as it turned sharply and continued on. Hope and excitement welled up in her as she went. After a few moments, the hall seemed to grow narrower and the ceiling lower. The hard floor, ceiling, and walls gave way to rock. Saberwolf briefly wondered why, then realized she didn't care. She wanted to get to her parents. Her spark was pounding excitedly at the thought of seeing them again._

_ But soon she had to stop running. She hadn't noticed at first, but the amount of light had steadily decreased to nothing but the light of her optics. The hall had turned into a narrow tunnel. Saberwolf had to stoop, then crawl on all fours, then on her stomach just to squeeze through._

What is this, a maintenance tunnel?

_ Saberwolf barely had time to wonder before she ran into something hard._

_ "Ow!"_

_Saberwolf's optics provided enough light to recognize a metal wall._

What the hell?

_Saberwolf pushed it but it didn't budge. She tried slicing through it with her hand, but after cutting through the first layer of metal, she hit an active energy blade that deflected her touch. Saberwolf wondered why for a moment. Then she heard two very familiar voices from the other side of the wall._

_ "Mama? Papa?" she asked, spark pounding rapidly._

_They didn't respond._

_ "Mama! Papa! Open the door!" Saberwolf shouted._

_ "Why have you brought us here?" Saberwolf heard her mother say._

_ "What? Mama, who are you talking to? Open the door!" Saberwolf shouted again, pounding on the metal._

_Still no response. Saberwolf grew more nervous with every passing cycle._

_ "You already know we don't have any information for you!" Saberwolf heard her father shout._

_ "What?" Saberwolf asked._

_ "Yes, I know," a new voice said._

_Saberwolf felt a shiver run up her spine at the new voice. It was Megatron. Saberwolf realized the wall was there on purpose. And none of the bots on the other side could hear her. She started pounding on the wall furiously, fear for her parents abolishing the hope and excitement that was once present._

_ "Mama! Papa!"_

_ "Then what do you want? What more could you do to us?" Saberwolf's mother said._

_Megatron let out a dark laugh._

_ "I killed your daughter."_

_ "No…" Saberwolf's mother whispered, sorrow in her voice._

_ "NO! No I'm fine! He's lying! He's LYING!" Saberwolf's fear turned to terror._

_She smashed the wall desperately, sending shocks up her arms with the force of it._

_ "You son of a bitch!" her father yelled, "I'll KILL YOU!"_

_Saberwolf heard her father stand and start running. _

_ "Destroy him," Megatron said._

_ "NO! Papa DON'T!"_

_A group of footsteps ran to meet her father's. Saberwolf heard the sound of many bots fighting. It sounded as though her father was winning, but then they all swarmed him at once and he started crying out in pain. Saberwolf heard him scream. It was cut short by the sound of tearing metal. She felt the rip in her spark._

_ "HEAVYLOAD!" her mother screamed._

_ "PAPA! NOOO!"_

_Saberwolf's body shook with grief and she pounded desperately at the door. She heard her mother sobbing. Her spark felt like it was cracking._

_ "Please… finish me… I have nothing left…" her mother begged._

_ "NO! NO MAMA!" Saberwolf screamed, spark breaking, "You have me! I'm okay! PLEASE!"_

_Saberwolf begged the universe to move the wall that was blocking her path._

_ "Normally I would let you live and suffer for the rest of your life," Megatron said, "But… I'm feeling generous today."_

_Saberwolf heard his cannon charge. Panic consumed her. She started frantically trying to get into the room. She did more harm to herself than to the wall._

_ "Heavyload… I'm coming, I'm coming…" Saberwolf's mother said weakly between sobs._

_ "NOOO! MAMA! DON'T!"_

_Saberwolf pounded futilely at the wall. Her body was shaking._

_ "This is what you get for spying on me, Chromia," Megatron said._

_Then there was the sound of his cannon firing, and Chromia's scream cut short._

_ "MAMAAA! NOOOOOO!" Saberwolf screamed, "WHY, WHY, WHY?"_

_Saberwolf started sobbing uncontrollably. She pounded weakly on the wall and leaned her helm against it in defeat._

_ "Open it," Megatron said._

_The wall suddenly swung away and Saberwolf fell forward into the room. She scrambled to her knees and looked up. She screamed at what she saw._

_ Her father's head had been pulled from his shoulders, spine along with it. Energon and other fluids were spewed all over the floor. The left half of her mother's face and torso were gone. Fluids leaked rapidly from the gaping wound. Saberwolf turned to one side and purged her tank at the sight, then screamed again. She crawled weakly towards her parent's bodies. They were close to each other, and her mother's right hand was still clinging to her father's left hand. Saberwolf leaned over their corpses and felt her spark shatter completely. A block hole took its place and sucked all the positive feeling from her body. In its place settled pain and sorrow, turmoil and misery. Saberwolf clung to her parents' lifeless shells._

_A disconsolate scream erupted from her. Her head flung back with the force of it, and it rang loudly through the room. Most of the bots in the room covered their audio-receptors, shooting her horrified looks. Even Megatron seemed taken aback for a moment. _

_ As her scream faded, Saberwolf's uncontrollable sobs returned. She felt broken. Everything she'd worked for was gone. So much time wasted. For nothing. Saberwolf had nothing. And that thought left her with nothing but despair._

_ "M-m-mama… P-papa…" Saberwolf looked up at Megatron._

_His smirk was back. Saberwolf gave him a look of sorrowful questioning, knowing that not even her visor could hide her grief._

_ "Why? Why did you do this? I did what you asked! I brought you that target!" Saberwolf shouted, "Please! Tell me why they had to die! WHY?"_

_The words came out in shaky sobs. Megatron simply stared at her. His smirk faded, and he looked up at the guards._

_ "Take her back to her quarters," he commanded, "and clean up this mess. Salvage any spare part you can, then throw the rest in the incinerator."_

_The guards walked over and grabbed her by the arms. _

_ "No! NO, NO! NOO!" Saberwolf screamed as they pulled her away from her parents' corpses, "No! Leave us be! NO!"_

_Saberwolf struggled against the bots that were holding her, desperate to stay with her parents; to keep their bodies from being desecrated by the Decepticons. The black hole of sorrow grew bigger and heavier in her chest._

_ "Let me go! LET ME GO!"_

_Saberwolf tore away from their grip and fell to her knees next to her parents. The guards grabbed her again and yanked her away. They lifted her off the ground and held her. One held her wrists together behind her back, the other held her ankles together. Saberwolf bucked and twisted. She let energy flow into her hands, burning the mech holding them. He shouted and dropped her. Saberwolf landed hard on her back but barely felt the pain. She tried to kick off the other mech, but he led firm. _

_ "Sedate her for spark's sake!" Megatron yelled. _

_Another mech reached around Saberwolf's neck and got her in a headlock. He pricked her arm with something, then he and the other mech handed her to a very large femme with a wide, ugly face. Saberwolf struggled more, kicking and singeing and even biting. But the femme, whom Saberwolf recognized as Strika, held strong._

_ "Shh… Go to sleep now little one," Strika said with a sympathetic sigh._

_Saberwolf kept writhing and kicking, optics locked on her parents' bodies. But her body began to grow weak and her optics dimmed. Saberwolf felt a dark haze wreathe around her processor. She tried to fight it, but she couldn't. Her body fell limp and she started losing feeling in her limbs. She vaguely felt Strika carrying her out of whatever room they were in. Her optics were still locked on her parents. She blinked a few times, then her vision went black._

_ "Mama… Papa… I'm… Sooorrryyy…" was all she managed to get out before succumbing to the darkness._

* * *

"They gave me a really strong sedative. I was unconscious for twenty-four mega-cycles," Saberwolf said, voice shaky, "After that I just fell into a depression. I functioned on auto-pilot. I did what I was told when they told me to do something, and I didn't interact with anyone beyond that. I just worked. They had to have someone force my ration of energon down my throat. I wouldn't do it myself. It was that bad…"

She had to pause. She cycled some air and shook a little bit. She felt the sorrow as if it were fresh. The dark, abysmal feeling gripped her and wouldn't let go. She bit her lip to suppress a whimper. She felt Prowl's hand on her shoulder.

"You can stop now, if you want," he said.

Saberwolf looked up at him. His optics were full of sorrow and sympathy. She sighed and looked down at the ground. She shook her head.

"No, I can't. You need to hear the last part," Saberwolf said.

"Why?"

"Because I did something horrible, and you should know about it…"

Saberwolf heard Prowl sigh.

"Alright. Continue. I'll always listen," Prowl said.

"Thank you."

Saberwolf cycled some more air, then sat up and stared at the full moon.

"Like I said, I did whatever I was told. I went after targets and brought them back. I was never told to kill them, thankfully. Those were sent over to Lockdown," Saberwolf continued, "I got more and more training as the stellar-cycles went by.

"I grew up with the Decepticons. Although I don't really remember too many of them. A lot of Decepticons are the kind of bots you don't look twice at, or think twice about. They don't leave a lasting impression," Saberwolf explained, "I think that was for spying purposes, but I'm not sure. If I ever talked to one, I don't remember what it was about.

"As I grew up, a lot of bots tried to take advantage of my depression. Since I did everything that was presented to me as an order, I became a target. I got in trouble a lot when pranksters ordered me to do something stupid. I didn't have enough fight in me to do anything about it. Luckily, pranks were as bad as it got," Saberwolf said.

That was a lie. Saberwolf pushed away memories about a certain mech that had tried to go further. She refused to tell Prowl about it. That was one thing he would never know about. No one would ever know about it.

"I probably would have continued like that forever, mindlessly doing whatever I was told, lost in sorrow," Saberwolf continued, "But then Ransack came back from his mission…"

* * *

_"We're back!" Ransack said cheerfully, walking up beside Saberwolf as she stared forlornly at the stars._

_Saberwolf didn't answer. She barely heard him. She just kept watching the stars, wondering why the Well hadn't taken her yet._

_ "…then we… Hey? You okay?" Ransack asked, touching Saberwolf's shoulder, "You seem distant."_

_Saberwolf looked up at Ransack with the desolate look that was now constantly written on her face._

_ "…Okay?" Saberwolf echoed._

_ "Yeah. Are you okay?" Ransack asked._

_Saberwolf blinked a few times. She looked forward again._

_ "Okay…" she repeated._

_She blinked again and the cloud around her processor started to lift. _

_ "Okay," she said again, voice a little stronger._

_ "You're starting to freak me out a little bit," Ransack said._

_ "Okay…" Saberwolf let out a skeptic titter, "Would I still be here if I was okay?"_

_Saberwolf felt a little spark of anger. _

_ "Would I be all alone if I was okay?" she continued, voice growing louder with her rising anger, "Would I have seen my parent's mutilated bodies if I were okay?"_

_Saberwolf stood as her anger hit its peak. She felt something in the back of her processor start to crack. She let out little, mania tinged giggle._

_ "Ask me again if I'm okay," she said, turning towards Ransack._

_Ransack shook his helm._

_ "ASK!" Saberwolf demanded._

_Ransack jumped a little._

_ "Are you… Okay?" he asked hesitantly._

_Saberwolf drew her blade and sliced at the air between them. Ransack gasped and jumped back a bit._

_ "NO! I'm not okay! Far from it!" Saberwolf yelled, "Everything I worked for was for nothing! My parents are dead and I'm still on this rock! Still following Decepticon orders! I did everything I was asked but in the end I got NOTHING!"_

_Her last word carried a slight sob._

_ "Wait, your parents are dead? But I thought Megatron said—"_

_ "Everything Megatron said was a lie! It was all a lie! I was just too stupid to accept it before!" Saberwolf interrupted, "It was all nothing but one big lie!"_

_Saberwolf looked at Ransack and started to realize something._

Everything was a lie…

_ "You…" Saberwolf said, anger rapidly turning into a seething hatred._

_ "What?" Ransack asked._

"_Everything was a lie," Saberwolf said, "Including YOU! You lied to me too! You were never my friend! It was all part of the scheme! Make me think I have one bot looking out for me, so I don't get cold pedes and run!"_

_Ransack gave her a horrified look._

_ "What?" he asked._

_ "I was never your friend, was I? I was just another face! Another bot whose life you Decepticons destroyed!" Saberwolf shouted._

_ "That's not it at all! I was your friend! I _am _your friend!" Ransack protested._

"_Cut the act! There's no need! My life is already ruined!" Saberwolf said, lowering her helm, "And there's nothing I can do about it!"_

_Ransack shook his head._

_ "You're wrong! I am your—"_

_ "Maybe I can't do anything about what happened," Saberwolf cut in, "But I can avenge my parents' deaths…"_

_Ransack's optics widened. Saberwolf glared up at him._

_ "…Starting with the one who brought me into this mess!" Saberwolf shouted viciously._

_She ran towards him and slashed out with her sword. Ransack dodged easily and got behind her, snatching her sword from her hand and flinging it several hundred meters away, all in one fluid motion. Saberwolf growled in agitation, turning around in an attempted leg-sweep. Ransack jumped up in time to dodge it and did a backwards handspring away from her. Saberwolf dashed towards him ready to punch him, but he was fast enough to catch her wrists and strong enough to hold them. Saberwolf forced energy through them and Ransack cried in pain. Saberwolf smiled in satisfaction at the sizzle his hands made. He let her go and blew on his hands to cool them, body hunching over them protectively. This left his face wide open for Saberwolf's kick. Ransack anticipated it but was only fast enough to save his face from harm. Saberwolf's foot caught his chest instead and sent him flying backward. He landed on his back and stayed there, stunned for a moment. Saberwolf walked over to him and knelt next to him and readied to punch him in the face._

_ "How does on other crack to go with the one you already have sound?" she hissed._

_Ransack caught her hand before she could hit him. He winced from using his still tender hands, but he didn't let go. He rolled Saberwolf onto her back and pinned her arms down._

_ "Stop this! I don't want to hurt you!" he said._

_Saberwolf hit his helm with hers as hard as she could._

_ "Agh!" Ransack leaned back and grabbed his helm._

_ Saberwolf rolled away from him and stood. She grew dizzy and swayed a little bit, head hurting from the hit. She shook the pain away and ran towards a slowly standing Ransack. He reacted just in time to block her blows and push her back._

_ "You call that a hit?" Saberwolf growled, "C'mon, fight like you mean it!" _

_Ransack shook his head._

_ "I don't want to hurt you!" Ransack repeated._

_ "You already have!" Saberwolf shouted bitterly._

_She came at him again and this time Ransack put more force into pushing her away._

_ "Stop this already!" Ransack said, "I _am_ your friend! That wasn't a lie! And had I known he was going to kill your parents anyway, I wouldn't have kept it from you. I would have told you right away and helped you figure out a way to save them!"_

_ "Liar!"_

_Saberwolf started hitting him with everything she'd learned. Ransack blocked or dodged each blow easily, but never hit back with anything but a painless push._

_ "I'm not lying!" he protested as this went on, "I am you friend and I care about what happens to you! I'm sorry that this happened to you! Really, I am! I wish I could have been here to change things! I wish I could have been here for you!"_

_He pushed her away again with more force._

_ "Please, stop all of this and let me help you!" Ransack said._

_ Saberwolf glared at him, not believing a single word he said. Her mind was clouded by hate and anger. All she wanted was Ransack dead. She hadn't noticed that Megatron had walked up behind Ransack. But she saw him now and glared at him, telling herself he would be next. Megatron watched her for a moment, meeting her glare with calm, calculating optics. The coldness of his look would normally send a chill up her spine, but right now she was too full of hatred and fury. _

_ Megatron seemed to sense this, as he smirked a bit and looked at Ransack._

_ "If she comes at you again, hit her with everything you've got," Megatron ordered._

_Ransack jumped and looked back, just realizing Megatron was there. He gave him a horrified look._

_ "You don't mean—"_

_Megatron nodded._

_ "B-but my Lord. It'll kill her!"_

_ "It may," Megatron said, obviously unconcerned._

_ "I-I c-cant!"_

_ "You _what?_" Megatron said, giving Ransack a meaningful glare._

_Ransack gave him begging look, shaking his head but not daring to say anything out loud. Megatron simply narrowed his optics. Ransack's look changed to one of defeat and sorrow. He looked at Saberwolf. He raised his hands, palms facing her. He put one foot back and to the side in a more balanced stance. His arms started shaking as if holding back a large amount of force. Saberwolf heard a charging sound, as if a cannon was readying to fire._

_ "Please… Don't make me do this," Ransack begged her._

_Saberwolf's optics narrowed to slits._

_ "I'm going to kill you," Saberwolf said, voice colder than absolute zero*, "Both of you!"_

_She ran towards Ransack, hands lighting up with energy. Ransack gave her a sad look, then closed his optics and turned his head away. Saberwolf heard the charging sound reach its peak. Then heard a loud boom and saw Ransack go flying backwards. A huge wave shot forward from where he had been standing, spreading out and tearing up the ground. Saberwolf's optics widened and she tried to backpedal to avoid it. But it came on fast and hit her, lifting her body high off the ground and carrying her with it. _

_ Saberwolf felt her plating cracking in many spots. Her visor cracked along with her helm. Her audio receptors scrambled and started ringing, and her optics were forced shut. Saberwolf felt an immense amount of physical pain, more than she'd ever felt in her life-cycle. She screamed in pain, but no sound would come out. She felt the wave begin to dissipate underneath her, but her inertia kept carrying her forward. She eventually came crashing down into the rock. She let her body go limp to try to minimize damage, but one of her legs broke anyway. Saberwolf couldn't s scream. Her body was in too much pain. The rock was scraping her plating and putting more cracks in it. Little bits of rock got into the cracks and stayed there, painfully stabbing into her wiring and causing leaks. She bounced several times and each bounce sent another wave of pain through her body. After the last bounce, she slid several meters across the ground. By this point, she could no longer feel the pain. She just felt little bumps and scratches._

_ Finally, she came to a stop. She was sprawled on her back. She opened her optics weakly and stared at the crack in her visor. She moaned, the pain returning slowly. She cycled some air, but her intakes were damaged, making it difficult. Saberwolf sat motionless for a while unable to move._

_ She eventually tried to get up, driven by nothing but desire for revenge. Her parents' screams echoed in her head and evoked feelings of anger and bitter hatred. These feelings gave her strength. She ignored her body's protests and rolled onto her stomach. She tried to lift herself to her knees. Her arms gave out several times before she was successful. She pulled herself to her feet and fell to her knees immediately after. She winced at the pain in her leg. It felt as if she were taking her own energy blade and splitting her leg from knee to toe. She looked down at it and saw the bent plating. She could feel the broken skeletal structure underneath. She bit her lip at the pain, but forced herself to stand again, this time careful not to put weight on that leg. She was amazed that it was the only broken limb. But she assumed she had other minor breaks or fractures or bends in other places._

_Once standing, she looked around and tried to figure out her position. She was several hundred meters away from where she had been standing before. Her sword was closer to her destination than she. But Saberwolf felt a strong determination to finish the task she set out for. She started the slow, painful walk towards where Ransack's body was lying._

_It seemed to take mega-cycles. Saberwolf was exhausted by the time she got there. She saw Megatron watching her with approval and slight amazement. Saberwolf didn't give him a second look. She kept going until she got to Ransack's body. He appeared to be unconscious. He was beat up by the blast as well, though only about half as bad as Saberwolf. Saberwolf dropped over him. Ransack's optics shot open. _

"_You're alive…" he looked very happy to see her._

_Saberwolf narrowed her optics, not at all happy to see him. She wrapped her hands around Ransack's throat. He looked at her in panic as she started putting pressure. He reached up and tried weakly to pull her hands off, but the blast seemed to drain a lot of his energy and he was unsuccessful. As the pressure grew, his hands stopped trying to get her off and just rested on hers. _

"_Don't do this! Don't stoop to his level!" Ransack protested, voice strained._

_Saberwolf ignored him. All the anger, vengefulness, pain, sorrow, and hatred she was feeling grouped together in an amazing burst of strength._

"_Please… Don't!" _

_His pleas fell upon deaf audio-receptors. He seemed to realize this and stopped protesting. The look in his optics changed from fear to resignation._

"_I love y—"_

_His neck snapped easily, cutting off is last statement. Saberwolf sighed and stood, rather painfully, feeling a slight sense of satisfaction. She'd taken her revenge. Now all that was left was Megatron. She looked up to see him smiling. She felt her satisfaction ebb away._

"_Well done," Megatron said, "Now you are truly one of us. Come, it's about time we had you initiated."_

_Saberwolf blinked a few times at his words, the cloud of hatred around her mind dissipating. She looked down at Ransack's lifeless shell and gasped._

"_No…" she said, "No! What have I done?"_

"_You have become a Decepticon," Megatron said._

_Saberwolf glared up at him._

"_No! I'll never be a Decep—"_

"_Ransack! Hey Ransack you up here?" Crumplezone's voice cut off Saberwolf._

_She looked past Megatron to see Crumplezone walking towards them._

"_My Lord!" Crumplezone knelt when he reached them, "Excuse me, but have you seen—"_

_Crumplezone stopped as he looked up at Saberwolf, then down at her feet._

"_Ransack!" he shouted, running past Megatron and dropping to his knees next to his best friend._

_He picked up his little friend gently, looking at the cracked and leaking plating on his neck, the grey plating, the offline optics, with horror. He looked up at Saberwolf and saw the drops of energon on her hands that matched the one from Ransack's neck._

_ "You…" Crumplezone gave her an incredulous look._

_ "Crumplezone I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"_

_ "Get away from us!" Crumplezone growled._

_ "But Crumplezone I—"_

_ "LEAVE!" Crumplezone shouted._

_Saberwolf did exactly that. She turned around and hobbled away as quickly as she could, the black hole in her chest expanding even more than it had been._

_ She ran past Megatron and into the base. She headed for the hangar; for her ship. She passed Shockwave on the way, and flinched at the sight of him. She tried to quickly swerve past him, refusing to look him in the optic. But he stopped in her path._

_ "And where do you think you're going in such a hurry?" he asked._

_Saberwolf dared to look at him. She realized that she no longer cared about what any Decepticon did to her. She narrowed her optics at Shockwave._

_ "Anywhere but here!" she shouted, shoving him out of her way._

_She kept running along, knowing Shockwave could catch her if he wanted, but not caring. _

_But Shockwave didn't pursue her. She made into the hangar and even onto her ship without anyone stopping her. She lowered the ramp and clambered inside. She got into the cockpit, started it up and lifted it from the ground quickly._

"_This is _Striker_ requesting the hangar doors open," she said into the COM link._

"_Sorry, but you're not scheduled for flight today," the mech at the control tower said, "Set the ship back down and exit the hangar."_

_Saberwolf turned towards the control tower and locked her weapons onto it._

_ "Open the fucking doors!" Saberwolf shouted._

_The mech in the control tower suddenly looked terrified. The hangar doors started opening._

_ "You're clear for launch," he said, fear in his voice._

_Saberwolf turned off the COM link and quickly guided the ship towards the doors._

_ "What the hell are you doing? Close those doors!" Saberwolf heard someone shouting down below._

_It was too late; she was already heading up and out. She thought of one last act of revenge she could take before she left. She stopped and aimed at Megatron's flagship. She fired and blew a large hole into the front of it. The whole place went crazy, but Saberwolf didn't stick around to see what happened next. _

_ She flew at full speed weaving easily through the asteroid field. She didn't pick up anyone following her, but he honestly didn't care whether they did or not. She just flew. She didn't set a course. She just went. Fled. Not wanting to be near anyone or anything. Just wanting to get away._

What have I done?

_She felt completely wretched. She started sobbing as she went. She put the ship on autopilot and let it fly wherever it pleased. She didn't care where she ended up. The only thing she could feel was grief. It consumed her. Her sobs shook her body. The all too familiar depression that was now her constant companion consumed her, sending her into darkness._

* * *

_*** absolute zero: the temperature of 0** **Kelvin ****(**−273.16°C)(−459.69°F),the theoretical point at which all motion ceases. It only exists hypothetically because it does't occur naturally and no one has ever been able to achieve it. we only know it can possibly exist because if you do the proper experiments and make a graph, your line will show that it exists. (trust me, i've made the line and seen how it does that. it can potentially happen! yay chemistry!) anyway, my reference here means that Saberwolf is PISSED!_

_**Again, so sorry for how long it took to post this!**_

* * *

_**11/20/11-I read through this and found some mistakes. so i went back and fixed them. i mean "..crumplezone gave her an incredulous." made no sense! lol totally forgot to put in the word "look" the first time around. anyway, that's fixed. if anyone finds any more errors, let me know and i'll fix 'em!**_


	29. Chapter 29

**_Yay! i didn't procrastinate as much! i loved writing this chapter. it took a few tries to get it just right, but now i'm really glad with how it turned out. :D enjoy! _**

**_Hasbro owns Transformers (and my fraggin soul!)_**

* * *

**Chapter**** 29: Watching Over**

Prowl looked at her in shock. Saberwolf looked away, feeling ashamed. They were both silent for a while. Saberwolf tried to control the sobs, but failed. All the feelings associated with her memories came flooding back to her at once. She pulled her legs to her chest and hid her face. Her body shook and she felt absolutely terrible.

Prowl moved closer and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer in a comforting embrace. Saberwolf leaned into his side and continued to sob. Prowl spoke soothing words to her, voice soft and kind. Saberwolf didn't catch much of what he was saying, but his voice was comforting. After a while, her sobbing died down and she could hear him singing softly. She cycled air slowly as she listened to the lyrics.

_Don't cry my darling,_

_Don't cry my dear._

_Sit back and smile_

_For I am here._

_Through every struggle,_

_Through every hardship,_

_You know that I'll always be here for you, so_

_Don't cry my darling,_

_Don't cry dear._

_Sit back and smile_

_For I am here._

They were sweet lyrics, and they were oddly familiar. Combined with Prowl's soothing voice, they had a powerful calming effect. Saberwolf heaved a big sigh and sat up straight again. Prowl moved his arms from around her and slid his hand into hers again. They were both silent for a while.

"Where did you learn that song?" Saberwolf asked.

"One of the nurses at the orphanage used to sing it to young bots when they were upset," Prowl said.

Saberwolf nodded. She now understood why it was familiar. One of the nurses, probably the same one Prowl was talking about, sang that song to her on her first day at the orphanage. She was the only one in the orphanage that Saberwolf got along with.

"It's a good song," Saberwolf said, "Very comforting."

"I concur," Prowl said.

There was another moment of silence. Saberwolf heaved a sad sigh, thinking about her past.

"...And as if that wasn't bad enough," Saberwolf said, breaking the silence, "They had to go and take my name away from me."

"What?" Prowl gave her a confused look.

"Well, obviously Saberwolf isn't my real name," Saberwolf said, "I just came up with it when I got here because I was tired of being nameless."

"Who took your name?" Prowl asked.

"The Decepticons," Saberwolf said.

"How?"

"I'm not sure exactly… They must have done it while I was sedated, after my parents' deaths," Saberwolf said, "Because no one called me by my name after that. Not that I would have noticed in the first place… I didn't notice until I was far away from their base, trying to trade with a small group of neutrals. Their leader asked me what my name was and I didn't have an answer. I couldn't remember.

"I still can't. I can remember everyone else's names. Even the leader of the neutrals! Her name was Tesla. But I can't remember my name…"

Prowl seemed shocked.

"You don't have a single memory of someone saying your name?" he asked.

"Nope. Every memory that contains my name is fuzzy, and when I replay it in my head I can never make out what they were calling me, and their faces are blurred so that I can't read their lips," Saberwolf explained, "I don't know how they did it, but they tampered with my memory servers and my name is just gone. Or at least pushed so far back that I can't retrieve it. It's hidden from me. Or gone… The only other thing from my parents, besides my mother's cape, that I had… gone…"

Prowl gave her a sympathetic look.

"I'm sorry…"

Saberwolf just sighed.

"There's no need to feel sorry for me. It's no less than what I deserve…" she said.

"What?"

"Losing my name, even losing my parents, is no less than what I deserve," Saberwolf stated, "I willingly stole a mech away from his family for no reason other than selfishness. I ruined the rest of his life, stripped a family of its father and partner. And I took the life of an innocent bot, who had only ever tried to be nice to me. And to help me. And by killing that bot, I stole a brother from another one of my friends. So, losing my family, and my name, is what I deserve. It's kar—"

"Shut up," Prowl's angry voice cut off her last sentence.

Saberwolf looked over at Prowl in surprise. His optics were filled with concern and anger, and some other deep emotion that Saberwolf couldn't quite identify.

"Did you just tell me to—"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you're spewing out nonsense," Prowl said.

Saberwolf was confused.

"You should never talk about yourself like that," Prowl explained.

"Like what?"

"Like you deserve to be depressed," Prowl said, "Like you are some horrible bot that deserves punishment."

"But I—"

"No! No argument you have can convince me that you are a bad bot," Prowl said, "Not now anyway. No matter what happened in the past, you are a good bot now. You fulfilled your promise to Kup. You are an Autobot now! You've done a complete one-eighty."

"Prowl, _I killed a bot for no good reason!_" Saberwolf said, "Nothing will change that! Nothing will ever make up for that!"

"There is plenty of good in you that makes up for it," Prowl said.

"There's good in me?" Saberwolf asked, "Really? Where? Cuz I don't see any!"

"I do! I see good in you every day!" Prowl said, "I see good in you when you have friendly chats with BlackArachnia. I see good in you when you let Sari pet you, or when you play video games with Bumblebee. I see good in you when you help Arcee or Ratchet with a job they need done, or when you help Bulkhead with his artwork. I see good in you when you are willing to go on patrol for Optimus so he can spend more time with BlackArachnia. I saw good in you when you gave that locket and teddy bear back to Jack Darby, when you followed your instincts and brought in the man responsible for Jack's sorrow. I see good in you every night when we train."

Saberwolf felt her spark twinge at his words. She shook a little, touched by Prowl's kindness. She couldn't believe that he was being so kind to her. She stood and moved away, shaking her helm a little.

"Prowl, I—"

"Saberwolf," Prowl was suddenly standing in front of her, ice cold hands gripping her shoulders.

Saberwolf looked down, unable to look him in the eye.

"Saber, look at me," Prowl said, tilting her head up with his fingers.

Saberwolf stared into his optics and shuddered as she started to recognize that deep emotion in them.

"Listen to me," Prowl said, "You are a good bot. You are an amazing bot. You're kind, caring, thoughtful, talented, strong, mysterious, friendly…"

Saberwolf's pulse quickened. Prowl moved a little closer.

"Beautiful," Prowl added.

Saberwolf lowered her head again, smiling.

"Prowl… you're too nice to me," she said.

"You're too hard on yourself," Prowl said, "You dwell on mistakes you made in the past. Mistakes that you've made up for now."

"I just don't see it that way," Saberwolf said, looking back up into Prowl's optics.

There was another moment of silence. Prowl still had one hand on Saberwolf's shoulder, the other resting lightly under her chin. He looked as if he was trying to see through her.

"I wish I could see what was underneath your visor," he said finally.

"I wish I could see you in your actual paint color, rather than this ghostly blue," Saberwolf said, "Without having to look at a picture."

Prowl smiled. He took a few paces back and sat down cross-legged. He folded his hands in front of his chest in preparation for processor-over-matter and began humming. Saberwolf knew what he was doing, but wondered if it would actually work. Prowl had told her before that it would take a lot of time and focus to make himself appear completely solid.

But that appeared to be false, as he was growing more and more solid as the seconds passed. Saberwolf watched in awe as he changed from being a translucent blue figure to an opaque, black and gold figure. After a few moments, Prowl stopped humming and stood. Saberwolf's mouth hung open in shock.

"What do you think?" Prowl asked, a smile on his face.

"I… I thought you said that would take a long time…" Saberwolf said.

"I've been working on it, and it has grown easier," Prowl said, moving closer to her, "Your turn."

"W-what?" Saberwolf stammered.

"I showed you what you wanted to see," Prowl said, "Isn't it fair for you to show me what I wanted to see?"

"I haven't taken my visor off in stellar-cycles," Saberwolf said, "I felt naked the last time I took it off. It's like my security blanket. It protects my thoughts and emotions from probing optics."

"Well, you, and your thoughts and emotions, are safe with me," Prowl said.

Saberwolf sighed. She looked down at the ground and closed her optics. She cycled some air, then transformed her helm so that the visor was folded away. She opened her optics, and let them adjust to not having the visor over them. They did so quickly, but he instantly felt bare. She shivered and didn't look up.

Then, suddenly, Prowl was standing close to her, one hand on her shoulder again, the other slowly tilting her head up. Saberwolf squeezed her optics shut.

"Saberwolf, it's aright…" Prowl said softly.

Saberwolf hesitated for a moment, then opened her optics and stared into Prowl's.

Prowl gasped and seemed awestruck for a moment. Then his optics were filled with that deep emotion from before.

"Beautiful…" he said softly.

Saberwolf felt her face grow hot. She continued to look into Prowl's optics, and she became completely aware of what emotion was in Prowl's optics. She felt the same emotion in her spark, and she knew it was reflected in her optics.

Prowl's gaze flitted for a second to her lips, then back to her optics. Saberwolf stepped closer. Prowl lowered his helm slowly towards hers. Saberwolf closed her optics and lifted her chin slightly. She felt Prowl's cold face close to hers, then his icy lips touched hers gently. The kiss was tentative and quick, but it made Saberwolf's spark flip and start pounding like crazy. She opened her optics. Prowl pulled away slightly, opening his optics to regard her. Saberwolf was filled with desire. She knew Prowl could see it in her optics. He moved his hand to the small of her back, pulled her as close to him as he could and pressed his lips to hers again, this time without holding anything back.

The kiss was passionate and strong, yet tender and loving at the same time. Prowl's other hand moved from her chin to her upper back. Saberwolf wrapped one arm around Prowl's back and rested the other hand on the side of his face. Prowl's glossa slid out and ran over Saberwolf's lower lip. Saberwolf's glossa slithered out to meet his and they danced together. Saberwolf pressed her body closer to Prowl. For the first time in a long time, she lost her balance and fell, knocking Prowl backwards. He broke away from their kiss and used his boosters to soften the landing. He ended up on his back with Saberwolf on top of him. They stared into each other's optics for a moment.

"I love you," the said in unison.

Then they both smiled. Saberwolf felt an immense amount of joy hearing Prowl say those words.

Prowl rolled so that he was above Saberwolf and kissed her again. Saberwolf hugged him close, closing her optics as they kissed. Her hot plating was cooled by his touch. Her spark was skipping beats, flipping, fluttering, and pounding in its chamber. Saberwolf had never been happier than she was right now. Prowl trailed kisses down her neck, and ran his hands over her body. She felt a tingle wherever he touched her. Saberwolf let out a small moan. She never wanted the moment to end.

But Prowl suddenly stopped what he was doing. Saberwolf opened her optics wondering why. He was looking up at something. Saberwolf turned her head to follow his gaze, but saw nothing but trees. She looked back at Prowl and saw him frozen, optics lost on the empty spot.

"Prowl?"

Prowl gave a slight nod to whatever he was looking at, then shook his head as if breaking from a trance. He looked down at Saberwolf.

"I… I have to go now," Prowl said.

Saberwolf's spark flopped.

"Right now?" she asked.

Prowl nodded, standing up. He held out his hand to Saberwolf. She took it and he helped her up. His hand lingered in hers for a moment.

"See you tomorrow night?" Saberwolf asked.

Prowl nodded.

"As always," Prowl said.

Saberwolf smiled.

"See you then," Saberwolf said.

Prowl nodded and gave her one last kiss.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," Saberwolf said happily.

Prowl backed up a bit, kissing her hand before he let go of it. He started fading away.

"By the way," Prowl said as he was disappearing, "_That_ is what should have happened under the mistletoe."

And then he was gone. Saberwolf smiled at his last statement.

"I concur," Saberwolf said.

Then she transformed and headed back to the base.

That night was the best sleep, and dreams, she'd ever had.

* * *

_Prowl was getting caught up in the moment, loving the way it felt to kiss Saberwolf, to run his hands over her slender frame. He had nearly burst with happiness when she'd said "I love you," and was now having the time of his life, or rather afterlife, being with her._

_ But the moment was interrupted by a blue figure that appeared at the edge of the clearing. Prowl looked up and saw a mech watching him. He could tell the mech was from the Well, but not who it was. The mech's gaze locked with Prowl's._

_ In an instant, Prowl knew exactly who it was. It was Ransack, the mech Saberwolf had killed. In the same instant, Ransack told Prowl that it was time to return to the Well, and that the bots there were not happy with him, again. He also told him that he had been watching over Saberwolf ever since he joined the Well, and that he also watched over his best friend Crumplezone. He told Prowl how he felt about Saberwolf, about how he forgave her for what she did and that he knew Saberwolf didn't feel the same about him. Ransack knew that she loved Prowl, and told Prowl that it was now his duty to watch over her, to protect her. Ransack made him swear to keep her safe no matter what. _

_ All without saying a single word. _

_Of course I will. I swear, Prowl said to Ransack._

_Ransack nodded. Then he was gone. _

_ "Prowl?"_

_Prowl shook his head a bit and looked down at Saberwolf. _

_ "I… I have to go now," he said._

_ Prowl saw her displeasure at this. He could see every thought and emotion in her optics. He now understood why she wore the visor. _

_ "Right now?" Saberwolf asked._

_ Prowl nodded. He stood and helped Saberwolf up. He said hi goodbye to her, and told her he loved her._

_ "I love you to," she said._

_Prowl stepped away and started on his way back to the Well. _

_ "By the way,_ that_ is what should have happened under the mistletoe."_

_He heard her agree with her agree with him just before he entered the Well._

_For once, every bot was silent. But Prowl could feel their anger towards him. He knew he was pushing boundaries, but he didn't care. He wouldn't let the others ruin his good mood. Prowl shielded his thoughts, keeping his happiness to himself._

They can get mad at me all they want. I love Saberwolf. I'll always love her, and I'll always protect her. And nothing will ever change that.

* * *

_**I loved Prowl's little song in this! imagining him singing it... :3**_


	30. Chapter 30

_**Thanks so much to anonymousxnightmare (aka ersay123) for the input on this chapter! it ended up kind of short... :/ oh well. i hope you all enjoy and sorry for all the procrastination! deviantArt and life have been very distracting as of late. (i know, i know. excuses, excuses...) lol anyway enjoy!**_

* * *

**Chapter 30: Finding a Family**

"Whatcha thinkin' about?" Sari asked, breaking Saberwolf from her daydream.

Saberwolf shook her head and looked at Sari, faceplates growing warm.

"N-nothing!" Saberwolf said.

Sari gave her a skeptic look.

"You were thinking about something!" Sari said, "You've been staring off into space and you didn't hear me when I first started talking to you."

"Yes I did! You asked what I was thinking about," Saberwolf said.

"No, that was after trying to get your attention several times," Sari said.

"Oh, sorry Sari," Saberwolf said, "Did you need something?"

Sari shrugged.

"I forgot what it was," Sari said.

She moved her body so that she was lying on her stomach on the stone couch with her head held up in her hands. Saberwolf was sitting in robot mode on the floor, right shoulder just beneath where Sari was.

"So, what were you thinkin' about?" she asked again.

Saberwolf shook her head dismissively.

"It was nothing. Really."

But it wasn't nothing. Saberwolf couldn't stop thinking about Prowl. Every time her mind wasn't occupied with some task, it was occupied with thoughts of him. He loved her. He'd said it himself. Every time that thought crossed her mind, Saberwolf felt a burst of joy.

"Like that!" Sari shouted.

Saberwolf shook out of her thoughts again.

"Sorry!" she said, trying to think of a reason for checking out, "I just… I'm…"

"Distracted?" Sari prompted.

"Yeah," Saberwolf said.

Sari looked at her as if she was trying to decipher something.

"I can't tell… are you distracted by a good thing or a bad thing?" she asked.

_A good thing. A very good thing._

"I'm thinking about Jack Darby," Saberwolf said.

It was really far from the truth, but it would pass for Sari. Saberwolf hated lying to her, but she couldn't talk about Prowl. They'd either think she was crazy, or get mad at her for keeping him to herself. Besides, Prowl wanted them to move on.

"Why? His aunt works for my dad and she brings him there a lot. He seems to be doing fine. That all happened months ago. He's fine," Sari said, "Carries that bear wherever he goes. He really loves it. Thanks for giving it to him."

Saberwolf smiled a bit and nodded.

"How could I not?" Saberwolf said, "I still worry about him thought.

That was the truth.

_I don't want him to end up like me…_

Saberwolf sighed. Even after talking to Prowl, she felt terrible about everything she'd done. She had her doubts as to whether she'd really changed. But Prowl had believed in her. Saberwolf held out hope that one day her wounds would fully heal.

_With Prowl's help…_

"There you go again!" Sari said with exasperation.

"I'm sorry! Really, I am," Saberwolf said.

"Maybe we need to get you out of the base. You've been inside for the past week!"

_As far as you know…_

Sari didn't know about Saberwolf's nighttime outings. Saberwolf didn't go outside much anymore because there was nothing to do during the day.

"What would we do Sari? The last of the snow melted away weeks ago and without it there's nothing to do outside," Saberwolf said.

"Sure there is! We can gather up the whole gang and go to the park! Or to the beach!" Sari said.

"Isn't it still a bit cold for the beach? And it's not even a beach! It's sand around a lake. Lake sand isn't beach sand," Saberwolf said.

"Still a beach! But you're right; it is a bit too cold for that. Then the park it is! We'll grab Frisbees and have blast!" Sari exclaimed.

"Frisbees? Really?" Saberwolf asked, "Just cuz I'm a wolf doesn't mean that I'll go around catching a Frisbee."

Sari laughed.

"That's not at all what I meant! But it sounds fun!" Sari got up and ran behind the TV.

Saberwolf heard a rustling, as if she were looking through a box. When Sari emerged, she was carrying several brightly colored discs. She smiled at Saberwolf.

"Wanna Frisbee? Huh? Frisbee?" Sari said as if speaking to a puppy, "Go get it!"

She tossed a red disc towards Saberwolf. Saberwolf narrowed her optics at Sari, drew her pistol from its holster and shot the Frisbee, without looking away from Sari's smug face. It came fell with a plop into a melted red pile. Sari's face fell and she crossed her arms.

"Oh come on! I was just teasing!" Sari said, walking over to inspect the red goop.

"Oh dear, was that loaded?" Saberwolf said with mock worry, "I'm so sorry!"

Sari laughed.

"You're so full of it!" she ran towards Saberwolf, hand prepared to shoot, "That was my favorite one!"

Saberwolf laughed and moved into a crouch, then back-flipped over the couch just before Sari blasted.

"You're gonna try to kill me over a Frisbee?" Saberwolf laughed, poking her head up from behind the couch.

She dodged another blast.

"No! I set my laser to stun!" Sari said with a grin in her voice.

"Don't you mean phaser?" Saberwolf laughed, transforming into wolf mode and running off into the hall.

"No… Hey! Get back here!" Sari shouted, running after her.

Saberwolf laughed. She rounded the corner after going up the stairs and found Arcee extremely close. Saberwolf reacted quickly, jumping sideways and springing off of the wall, never once touching Arcee. Arcee gasped, but Saberwolf was past her already. Sari ran right into Arcee's leg.

"Oof! Sorry Arcee!"

Saberwolf laughed and turned to continue, only to find Ratchet blocking her path.

"What are you two doing?" he asked grumpily.

"Gathering everyone up," Saberwolf said matter-of-factly.

"For what?" Ratchet asked, crossing his arms.

Saberwolf gave him a doggish smile and then tilted her head back.

"FRISBEE IN THE PARK! EVERYONE GET DOWNSTAIRS NOW!" she shouted as loud as she could.

Ratchet winced and covered is audio-receptors. Saberwolf turned around quickly and bolted down the hall, narrowly missing Arcee, again, and grabbing Sari by the back of her dress as she went.

Saberwolf dropped Sari on the couch and transformed, taking up her seat in front of the couch as if nothing had happened.

"Act natural," she instructed.

Sari nodded with a smile, previous vendetta forgotten. She turned on the TV and they both started watching, though they didn't really pay attention to what was on the screen. Instead they listened to the chaos upstairs as Bulkhead and Bumblebee rushed past Ratchet and Arcee. They had to stifle their laughter as Ratchet cursed and Bumblebee cheered. Saberwolf heard Optimus and BlackArachnia's voices asking what the heck was going on. After a few cycles, the whole team was downstairs. Bumblebee and Bulkhead looked excited, Arcee looked slightly annoyed, Ratchet was pissed, and Optimus and BlackArachnia were confused.

"Hey guys! What was with the racket?" Saberwolf asked.

Sari snickered. Saberwolf held back her laughter well. Ratchet looked ready to smack them both with a wrench.

"FRISBEE!" Bumblebee shouted.

"What?" Optimus asked, looking completely baffled.

"What was all the shouting about?" BlackArachnia asked, "I didn't catch what you said. Is someone hurt? What's going on?"

Seeing the look on BlackArachnia's face made it impossible for Saberwolf to hold back her laughter. She and Sari busted out in hysterical laughter. This made Ratchet more angry, Arcee more annoyed, Bumblebee and Bulkhead confused, and BlackArachnia and Optimus even _more_ confused.

"Okay… Okay…" Saberwolf said, cycling some air and forcing herself to calm down, "Sari suggested getting out of the base for the day, and said something about Frisbee. She pulled one out and told me to go fetch. I shot it instead, causing it to turn to a melted pile of goop. Sari started chasing me, and I ran upstairs. Ratchet asked what happened so I shouted as loud as I could that we were going to play Frisbee in the park. And then we both ran back here to observe the chaos."

Sari giggled some more. Ratchet clenched and unclenched his fists.

"Oohh…" Optimus and BlackArachnia said in realization.

BlackArachnia snickered.

"FRISBEE!" Bumblebee shouted, "Let's go!"

Bulkhead started nodding at a comical speed.

"No way!" Ratchet shouted.

"Oh come on Ratchet, they were just having fun," Arcee said, looking calmer now that she knew what was going on.

"Doesn't mean I have to go play with a Frisbee," Ratchet said with a scowl.

"We can just watch, or go for a walk around the park or something," Arcee said with a soft smile.

Ratchet's face softened and he sighed.

"Well, alright," Ratchet said.

"What about you Prime? BlackArachnia?" Bumblebee asked.

"Uh, Bumblebee, don't you mean pupu?" Bulkhead asked.

"What?" Optimus asked.

"Pupu!" Bulkhead shouted.

"What the hell is pupu?" BlackArachnia asked.

"Optimus's name in Japanese is Oputimasu Puraimu," Bulkhead said, "We looked it up."

"Yeah but it was too long so we shortened it! The sound 'pu' is used twice, so pupu*!" Bumblebee said with a laugh.

This made Ratchet laugh as well. Optimus shook his head.

"What do you say, Pupu? Frisbee?" Bumblebee said.

"Sounds like fun to me," BlackArachnia said.

Optimus still looked irritated by the "Pupu" thing.

"Fine," he said with an annoyed look.

"Yes!" Sari said, pumping her fist into the air.

Saberwolf smiled. She walked over to one of the old conveyer belts that still had a sheet of metal on it. She cut a circle out of it and bent the edges so that it made a big Frisbee.

"We're gonna need a bigger one," Saberwolf said.

"Let'sgolet'sgolet'sgolet'sgo!" Bumblebee said with excitement.

"Transform and roll out!" Optimus said, Bumblebee's joy bringing the light-hearted smile back to his face.

Everyone did as he said. The journey to the park was filled with races, laughter, and Bumblebee nearly running into a garbage truck. When they got to the park, they settled in the middle of a large field of grass and started playing catch with the Frisbees.

Saberwolf found herself contradicting her words to Sari. She ended up catching the Frisbee many times in wolf mode. Mostly because Bumblebee said she couldn't catch it ten times in a row without her hands. It grew into a bet in which Bumblebee would have to be silent for a mega-cycle if he lost. He did, and Saberwolf told him she'd let him know when his hour started. It made Ratchet laugh.

"You have a make Bumblebee silent card! Use it wisely," he'd said, before going on a walk with Arcee.

There were moments when they had to stop their play for pictures with fans, but for the most part it was nothing but uninterrupted family fun. Saberwolf felt as though a little piece of her that had been missing for a while had found its way back.

After a few mega-cycles, Saberwolf took a break from what had turned into the ultimate game of Ultimate Frisbee. She watched the rest of the team play with a warm feeling of joy in her spark. She looked up into the clear spring sky and smiled as the sun hit her face. The only thing that she imagined making this better was Prowl at her side.

_If only he were alive. Then the whole team could see him. We could have longer training sessions and the family would be complete. Everyone would be so much happier._

Saberwolf was imagining what that would be like when she heard a jet engine. A very familiar sounding jet engine. Saberwolf looked up nervously and saw a harrier jet flying high in the sky. She narrowed her optics and put up a hand to block the sun. She focused on the jet and saw something that unnerved her.

_Starscream…_

There was no mistaking that paint scheme, or that level of skill in the air. As she watched, he did backflips and barrel rolls and several other aerial tricks. Saberwolf's grew more nervous and the pulse of her spark quickened. She squeezed her optics shut and counted to ten, then opened them, hoping it was just her imagination. But it wasn't now Starscream was in bot mode staring right at her. Saberwolf looked down at her team to see if they'd noticed, but they were lost in their game. The other people in the park hadn't either. Saberwolf assumed this was because Starscream was too high up for anyone but her to make him out. Saberwolf calmed a little, and then grew angry. She stood and slowly started backing away. She didn't want her team to see her leaving. Once she was sure they wouldn't notice, she transformed and dashed out of the park. She ran down a few blocks and then ducked into an alley. She looked up to see Starscream following her in jet mode. He transformed and hovered for a moment, then transformed again and took off. Saberwolf narrowed her optics. She changed her paint color to the blue that was typical for a robotic dog in Detroit and followed Starscream.

He flew to a tall building and transformed to land in an alley behind it. Saberwolf scanned the area to see if anyone had noticed. No one seemed to, so she dashed across the street. She walked around the alley to the side of the building and transformed, drawing and splitting her sword as she went. She crept to the corner of where her alley met the one that Starscream had landed in and peeked around it. Starscream was leaning against the building. His condition wasn't much better than when she'd revived him in the lake. He'd cleaned up and restored the shine to his plating, but his weapons were still broken. This made Saberwolf feel a little better. She stepped out into Starscream's range of vision, raising one sword defensively.

"Now is that any way to greet someone?" Starscream asked when he noticed her.

"It's a friendly greeting for someone like you," Saberwolf said in a cold tone.

"Ouch," Starscream said, standing up straight.

"Oh, did I hurt your feelings?" Saberwolf asked, "Good. Now, what the hell do you want?"

"What do I want? You're the one who followed _me_. What do _you_ want?" Starscream asked.

"Don't try to play me like a fool! You were calling all kinds of attention to yourself," Saberwolf said, "I'll ask nicely one more time. What do you want?"

Starscream laughed.

"You haven't changed a bit, little girl," Starscream said, stepping closer.

Saberwolf stuck one of her swords out so that it was level with Starscream's spark chamber. It was mere centimeters away from his body.

"I dare you to come closer," Saberwolf said with a dark tone.

Starscream's optics narrowed and he smirked.

"You definitely haven't changed," Starscream said.

Saberwolf felt a little twinge in her spark at those words.

_Don't listen to him. You have changed._

Saberwolf glared at him.

"Still hiding behind a visor I see," Starscream said.

Saberwolf flicked her sword, leaving a singed cut over Starscream's chest. Starscream yelped and jumped back.

"I will cut that AllSpark fragment out if you don't tell me what you want. You have ten nano-clicks," Saberwolf threatened.

"All right, all right. No need for violence. I'm simply here to propose a deal," Starscream said.

Saberwolf's optics narrowed. She lowered her swords, but still stood ready for a fight.

"Even a human child could figure out that a deal with you would land them a knife in their back," Saberwolf said, "I don't even know what the deal is and I know you'll try to kill me once I've done what you want. Whenever I'm no longer useful to you, you'll try to off me. Typical Decepticon."

"Ah, but you know from personal experience that not all Decepticons are bad," Starscream said.

"Watch what you say," Saberwolf warned.

Starscream glanced down at her swords nervously, then cleared his throat and continued.

"Besides, I'm not interested in killing you. I need you to do something for me," Starscream said.

"I thought you were supposed to be a good liar," Saberwolf said, "As soon as I've done whatever you want me to do, you'll kill me. Well, you'll try."

"Not when the thing I want you to do is kill Megatron," Starscream said.

There was a moment of silence after he spoke. Saberwolf watched him, confused by the way the conversation had turned.

"I thought that would grab your interest," Starscream said, "You see, I don't believe Megatron is fit to lead the Decepticons anymore. He needs to 'retire' and someone else needs to take charge. That someone is _moi_."

"Learning French, are we?" Saberwolf said sarcastically, "And I still don't see what this has to do with me."

"I'm getting to that," Starscream said, "I have tried to remove Megatron from the picture many times before. It's not an easy task, and I have grown tired of getting my own servos dirty. You, however, are just itching to get yours around his wretched throat. Aren't you?"

Saberwolf just watched him suspiciously.

"Of course you do. He killed your family, nearly ruined your life. You were lucky to find your way to Earth. If you hadn't, well, Primus only knows what would have happened to your processor. After all that happened…"

Saberwolf glared.

"I don't need reminding," she snapped.

"I know. It's just fun to watch your reaction," Starscream said.

Saberwolf twirled her swords. They made a menacing swooshing sound as they cut through the air.

"Moving on," Saberwolf said, warningly.

"Alright, calm down," Starscream said, "Anyway, you have all the motivation there is to send Megatron to his grave. I have all the information you could possible want about Megatron. I was his second in command for millennia after all. I know all his habits. Where he sleeps, what grade of energon he prefers, how he mixes his special blend of oil. Everything. If we couple my knowledge with your powerful vendetta, Megatron won't stand a chance. And when you kill him, I can take charge of the Decepticons and you can go on your merry way, enjoying your victory. I have the perfect plan to get the job done. If you'll agree to it."

"If you know so much about Megatron, and you have a 'perfect' plan, then why isn't he dead yet?" Saberwolf asked.

"Because I developed this plan after stellar-cycles upon stellar-cycles of trying and, I'll admit, failing. And I'm tired of it," Starscream said.

Saberwolf had a feeling that there was more to it than that, but Starscream's purposes for giving up weren't very high on her list of concerns.

"What does this plan of yours entail?" she asked.

Starscream pointed at the Autobot symbol on her chest.

"Parting with that," he said.

Saberwolf knew what that meant. Becoming a Decepticon.

"No. I refuse to."

"You won't have any opportunities to strike if you remain his enemy. You must pretend to be his ally. You must gain his trust and favor," Starscream said.

"Right. Even if joined the Decepticons, which I won't, Megatron would never trust me. I've told him before that I want to kill him. He knows that I hate him," Saberwolf said.

"You can gain his trust with a little work. And you have the advantage of information on a subject we all know he's keen on," Starscream said.

There was a moment of silence as Saberwolf considered what he meant.

"My team," Saberwolf stated with dismal realization.

"Exactly," Starscream said, "You know he's coming after them. Now you just need to use it to your advantage."

Saberwolf turned to leave. She was done listening.

"Hey! Where are you going? Are you going to do it or not?" Starscream called after her.

Saberwolf transformed and glared back at him.

"I'll consider it," Saberwolf said quickly, then she ran off.

She heard Starscream take off behind her.

_Did I really just say that?_

Saberwolf shuddered. Would she really consider betraying her friends? She pushed the thought away, scared of what the answer might be. When she got back to the park, she found her team ending their Frisbee game and starting to look for her. She transformed and made like she'd just gotten back from a walk.

"Oh, there you are!" Sari said when she spotted her, "We decided to go out to a drive-in movie! How does that sound?"

The look of innocence and pure happiness on Sari's smiling face, and the happy looks of the team behind her, made it easy for Saberwolf to forget about her troubling chat with Starscream. Saberwolf smiled back at all of them.

"That sounds great," she said.

The team transformed and headed out for the drive-in theater. Saberwolf was somewhat excited to see what one looked like. She'd never been to one before.

The movie that was showing was one Saberwolf had seen before, but it didn't matter to her. What mattered was being with her friends. What mattered was the seeing the way they interacted with each other. What mattered was how they were a family. They were Saberwolf's family.

Saberwolf's spark felt ready to burst with happiness at that thought. She had a family. Even after everything that had happened to her, she had a family. Saberwolf felt part of the chunk inside her that had been missing for so long start to be filled in. It was a magical feeling.

And she decided that her need for revenge would never jeopardize that.

* * *

Megatron smiled as he went over the plan he and Blitzwing had started drawing up. He was glad he had his strategist come out to assist him. Even if he was no longer completely right in the head, he was still capable of planning flawless assaults. Now all they needed was a bit more information on what the Autobots were up to nowadays, and they would be able to strike them down. The thought filled Megatron with a demonic sense of happiness and triumph.

_And after the Autobots are dealt with, I will deal with you, Saberwolf. Let's see how you've changed since I last saw you…_

* * *

_*** Pupu: go on youtube and look up Transformers Animated Sketch ending, Optimus Prime's nickname. the first TFA related video that come up should be the right one. the subtitles are hard to see (but necessary for those who don't speak Japanese) but after reading them you'll understand this reference! I had to put it in here cuz I found it really funny.**  
_


	31. Chapter 31

**_So this is just a filler chapter. I won't be releasing anymore new chapters until the end of my DeviantArt contests. i promised chapters to the winners of the contests, so i don't want to go too far into the main story line or else those chapters, most likely, wont fit. so here's a happy little chapter. :D and yes, my seasons are all mixed up (a summer chapter on Christmas Eve? only when dealing with a madwoman like me!) XD _**

**_and also, check out my contests! i haven't gotten any participators yet! (remove spaces if you copy into your browser to access link, or go to my profile and use the one there)_**

**_=== http: / / legendarysaberwolf . deviantart . com / journal / Saberwolf-Contest-268838003_**

**_le lol. anyway, hope you enjoy!_  
**

* * *

**Chapter 31: Summertime**

The summer is a wonderful time of year. Baby birds that chirped in the trees grow into beautiful songbirds, deer contently graze in the green woods, trees' green leaves have grown big and full, and colorful flowers are in full bloom. It is a time of vigor and life. A time of joy. A time of peace.

This is precisely why summertime happened to be Saberwolf's favorite time of year. That, and this summer brought Mittens' litter of kittens with it.

Saberwolf had been the only one awake when Mittens' kittens came. But when Sari arrived at the base from spending the previous day with her father, she was more than overjoyed at the sight of a very proud looking Mittens and her newborns suckling away. Everyone had gathered around with happy faces when they emerged from their rooms for the day. Saberwolf smiled proudly down at Mittens and gently stroked her back with one finger. She had overseen the delivery of the kittens, and was very happy with how Mittens took care of business.

"She's a true mother if I ever saw one," Saberwolf informed the team.

Sari wanted to cuddle one of the kittens, but Saberwolf told her it would be best to wait until they were at least a few days old. Sari nodded and simply stroked Mittens.

"Good job Mittens! Good girl!" Sari purred right back.

Saberwolf smiled in agreement.

_Good girl indeed._

Saberwolf couldn't wait for midnight to tell Prowl all about Mitten's achievement. He would be really proud as well.

After a while, the team went about their regular duties. Saberwolf stayed with Mittens and her kittens, transforming into wolf mode and curling protectively around them. Mittens leaned into her side and soon she and her kittens settled down to sleep next to her. Saberwolf just watched them contently. She too ended up falling asleep, dreaming happy dreams of kittens and Prowl.

* * *

Sari smiled at the slumbering group. The kittens were so small and cute, and Mittens was so happy looking. Pair that with a happy looking Saberwolf, something that Sari sometimes thought was impossible, and you had a picture perfect moment. Sari couldn't help herself. She snapped a picture with her cell phone's camera.

"If I find that on the internet, you're scrap," Saberwolf mumbled sleepily.

Sari's jaw fell slack at Saberwolf's acute perception. She didn't even online her optics, nor shift her ears around and she still sensed Sari take the picture. Sari didn't have the shutter sound on.

_She either knows me really well, or she heard the click of the button!_

They were two very possible scenarios. Sari giggled and turned away from the "sleeping" Saberwolf. She walked over to the couch and joined Bumblebee as he watched cartoons.

"Hey Bee," she said, crawling up onto his shoulder and planting a kiss on his cheek.

"Hey Sari," Bumblebee said, shooting her an endearing look.

Sari snuggled into Bumblebee's neck to watch the TV. Bumblebee sighed happily and sank more comfortably into the couch.

Sari felt four words land on her tongue and start begging to come out. Her spark, or heart, or whatever it was she had, started beating more rapidly and her face flushed. She wondered if it was the right time to say the words. She and Bumblebee had only been "dating" for a few months.

But the felt so natural. Bumblebee knew her better than anyone, and she knew him just as well. They were always in perfect harmony together, whether they were playing a game, talking, or even fighting. Everything they did went together. Even their first kiss had been perfectly in sync.

It had been a tender moment, and one that Sari would never forget. As were all of her moments with Bumblebee. She loved him. And it was about time she pulled together her courage and told him.

"Bumblebee?" she said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"I… I love you," Sari was shaking.

"I love you too," Bumblebee said.

It was so casual, yet so sincere. Sari's face was graced with the hugest grin of her life. She cuddled closer into Bumblebee and sighed happily. It felt great to fall in love.

"Wait… What?" Bumblebee asked nervously, "Did I say that out loud? Oh! Is it too soon to say that? Uh… I-I mean I really, really, like you! Oh wait… you already said. Heh, heh."

Sari laughed.

"Oh Bumblebee…"

* * *

Later that night, everyone had gathered on one of the larger beaches of Lake Erie to watch fireworks at the lake. Some company was having a big celebration, for what no one seemed to be certain, and Sari, Professor Sumdac, and the Autobots had all been invited. The colors were lovely, and the complex shapes and patterns that the skilled pyrotechnics team had put together was awe inspiring.

The beauty of the show seemed to evoke a need to be close to someone in most of the being attending. Optimus, who was sitting in the grass slightly behind BlackArachnia, pulled her close into a backwards, seated hug. She leaned her head back and looked into his optics with a smile. They shared a light kiss, then turned their heads back towards the fireworks.

Ratchet and Arcee were seated farther up the little hill that leads down to the beach and Ratchet had his arm around Arcee in a tender embrace. She leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled contently, closing her optics and starting to nap in his arms. Ratchet actually wore a happy look, which everyone knew was a feat. No one dared to interrupt that.

Bumblebee was farther down the hill, lying on his back with one hand behind his head, and the other gently placed near Sari as she lay on his chest plate. They were both watching the fireworks happily, and Sari's hand rested on one of Bumblebee's fingers. They both sighed happily. Professor Sumdac didn't look too thrilled about this, but he didn't look too angry either. He said nothing and simply watched the fireworks, and talked with Bulkhead.

Saberwolf was the farthest up the hill, sitting at the top and looking down at everyone else. She appeared to be alone on the hilltop, but that was to everyone else. And in a way she was. She had chosen this spot because it was isolated, and she could peacefully hold a quite conversation with her favorite bot. Prowl. He sat next to her, with one hand settled comfortably over hers. They spoke softly about nothing in particular, merely enjoying the sound of each other's voice.

It was one of the most peaceful summer nights the Autobots had ever had. And they were all very content with it.

* * *

Megatron smiled as he watched a video feed from a hacked camera-bot*. They all looked so happy and innocent. None were suspecting the plans hatching so very many kilometers above them.

_Enjoy it while you can Autobots… For it will all come to an end sooner than you realize…_

* * *

**_*camera-bot: some creation of Sumdac that i made up for Megatron to use as a spy. basically, it's a robot that follows the news reporter robot guy with a camera to record stuff. Megatron had Shockwave jump one so they could survey earth without having to go there. it's FanFiction, so what the hey. _**

**_And also, I couldn't help but throw some ominous Decepticon stuff in at the end. Don't worry, nothing comes of it for now. But later... heh heh! *evil plotting* _**


	32. Chapter 32

**_What the heck have I been doing? Not posting since December? Am I stupid? No, I just had a sever case of writer's block. I apologize to all of my readers for my absence! I'm so sorry! I hope these next few chapters make up for it._  
**

**_So this will be in two, possibly three parts. This is the prize chapter for anonymousXnightmare over on deviantART. This is more of a prelude to what she actually wanted in the chapter. And I had to put it in two parts because otherwise it would be really long. So yeah. Hope you all enjoy! :D Thanks for reading! Again, sorry this took so long!_**

* * *

**Chapter 32: Nightmare (Pt. 1)**

Megatron watched the figure on the monitors with intrigue. His hacked camera-bots were doing some very useful spying. Much better than what Swindle had done. That was the last time he'd send a merchant to do Shockwave's job. Megatron felt a little irritated and the minimal information Swindle gave him. But he shrugged it off and watched the figure on the screen again.

Saberwolf was doing some sort of strange dance, moving rocks around in a pattern without touching them as she did so. Megatron had heard of such things before, of bots moving things without the need for physical contact. They used a technique called Processor-over-Matter. Megatron had never cared to hear much about such nonsense, not quite believing it was possible. But now he could see it with his own optics.

Saberwolf seemed to have a knack for it. She was able to move many heavy rocks, along with other little ones, in an intricate pattern, very smoothly. It was a great display of her mental power. Megatron had never seen, nor heard of, anyone who could accomplish the things she was able to without help. Megatron watched with great interest, wondering what made her strong enough to do so much on her own.

But as he watched he saw something. A little flicker of blue. It popped up again and again, always opposite where Saberwolf moved. Sometimes Megatron swore it looked like a figure, but he couldn't get a clear view. Megatron wondered if it was some sort of camera malfunction, or perhaps some sort of aura that was a byproduct of Saberwolf's dance.

He didn't have much time to ponder though, as his viewing was interrupted by a knock on the door. He sighed irritably, wishing he could go more than a mega-cycle without being interrupted by something. He turned off the monitor and turned around.

"Enter," he ordered.

The door opened to reveal Shockwave. Megatron's irritation lifted slightly, as he knew Shockwave would only interrupt him if it was for something useful or important.

"Me liege," he said in greeting, kneeling as he approached Megatron.

"Shockwave," Megatron said in response, "What is it?"

"We have received an incoming transmission from a mech who calls himself Soundwave," Shockwave said, standing up again, "I believe it would be beneficial for us to have an audience with him."

"Fine," Megatron said, wondering how this mech knew how to reach him, "Patch him through."

Megatron figured Shockwave must have checked the mech out already, and deemed him worthy of their time, if he was bringing him up to Megatron.

"He found us by use of a little drone he has, named Laser Beak. Apparently, the little thing is disguised as a bird and guitar, and can gather all kinds of information, both on planet and off," Shockwave informed as he approached the computer.

"So can you," Megatron said dully, "Why is this mech so important?"

"He knows where the Autobots' secret base is," Shockwave said, typing some code to pull up the call, "And he also claims to have some other trick that might interest you, but was not specific as to what it was. I figured you would be interested in the location at least. As for the other part…"

Shockwave looked back at Megatron, a suspicious look in his optic as he brought up the call and the mech's face popped up onto the screen. His face was blue with somewhat square face and a gold mouth guard. His optics were covered by a sharp edged visor that allowed only a deep red glow to be emitted through.

"Greetings, Lord Megatron," the mech addressed him formally, voice a low monotone.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Megatron demanded.

"Designation: Soundwave. Purpose: to join your cause."

"And what makes you think you are worthy of joining our noble efforts to vanquish the oppressive Autobots?" Megatron asked, curious as to what this mech had to offer.

"I know the location of the Autobots. Physically and mentally," Soundwave stated.

_Interesting…_

Shockwave's optic now displayed intrigue rather than suspicion.

"Mentally?"

"Affirmative."

"Care to explain?" Megatron asked.

"Affirmative. I know the location of the Autobot base of command, and I know how to enter their processor and control it in any way I please," Soundwave said.

The two Decepticons' optics glowed with interest. Megatron glanced at Shockwave meaningfully, and Shockwave blinked once slowly in conformation of his order.

"Excuse us for a moment," Shockwave said to Soundwave, punching some code into the keyboard to put him on hold.

When he was done, he turned back to Megatron.

"He is useful. If not for the ability to control the Autobot's minds, then for his knowledge of their base's location," Shockwave stated.

"Yes… I intend to grant his request to join our noble cause," Megatron said.

"Then you have something else on your mind that you want to discuss?"

"As usual, you are correct," Megatron stated, "I have to admit something to you, Shockwave."

Shockwave gave him an odd look, but remained silent to hear what would come next.

"My original faith in Saberwolf eventually returning to us has started to veer off of stable ground," Megatron explained, "Her relationship with the Autobots is making her..."

Megatron paused to consider the next word or phrase.

"Soft?" Shockwave suggested.

"No… It has… changed her. They have started to quash her need for vengeance by giving her a family again."

"So… you want to disrupt those actions? By doing something to said family," Shockwave inferred.

"Exactly. I need a way to make the Autobots' feelings for her change. To subtly sever their bond."

"By making them distrust her?" Shockwave guessed.

"Precisely," Megatron was yet again reminded of how useful Shockwave was to him, "And to do so, I want to show them…"

"…the things she has neglected to tell them," Shockwave finished the statement for Megatron, taking the slightest step forward, optic full of evil excitement.

Megatron's face contorted into a malicious grin, deep red optics glowing.

"Retrieve this Soundwave so we can get to work," Megatron commanded as he turned to leave.

"I will at once, my liege," Shockwave said.

Megatron smirked.

_I hope you enjoyed your comfort while it lasted, Saberwolf._

* * *

Saberwolf was feeling calm and happy after another lesson with Prowl. They had done another Processor-over-Matter routine with some rocks at the abandoned mine, moving them around in a flowing pattern, bodies moving as if in a dance. It was a magical feeling, the connection they'd had.

But all good things had to come to a pause at some point. They were practicing well past midnight, and by the time they realized they were out too long, it was around 3:30 in the morning. Saberwolf told Prowl she should go home to get some recharge before the others woke.

So now she was walking back to the base, taking the long way. She wanted to enjoy the beautiful night. She paused at the top of a hill overlooking part of the city and let the cool night wind rush over her frame. It carried with it a scent of freshness from someplace outside her usual stomping ground. She had an impulse to follow it, but thought better of it and continued down the path she was on. She still had a few trees to clear before she could break into a run, so she trotted at a leisurely pace through them.

As she went along, thoughts of Prowl flooded her mind. She let her mind be carried away by the happy thoughts for a while, not caring much as she started losing touch with her surroundings.

Shockwave watched Saberwolf's movements curiously. She seemed different. The last time he'd watched her was through a camera, but even then he could tell how aware she was of everything around her. But now, she seemed aloof, her mind somewhere else. Shockwave felt a rush of malicious glee, realizing how much fun it would be to break her out of whatever daydream she was in.

As Saberwolf approached another clearing, Shockwave turned and nodded to his new teammate, Soundwave.

"Once you get into position do not to move until the device goes off, or she'll detect your presence."

Soundwave nodded and moved quickly, circling around to get into the perfect position for ambush. Shockwave was surprised by how silently he could move, considering his bulky, boxy frame. But he didn't marvel at it too long, as Saberwolf had entered the clearing. Shockwave waited a minute for her to reach the center of it, then moved out into the open.

"Out for a stroll, Saberwolf?"

Saberwolf's thoughts were shattered by the chillingly familiar voice. Her intakes hitched and she felt a wave of fear crash over her body and settle in her spark. She quickly forced it away and transformed out of wolf mode. She narrowed her optics, scuffling her foot to create vibrations and doing some quick calculations. She finished in mere seconds and discretely pulled out one of Prowl's shuriken.

"It's been a while, Shockwave."

She turned around quickly, releasing the shuriken and sending it flying in an arc that would end at Shockwave's throat. Shockwave's optic widened and he moved quickly, narrowly escaping the deadly attack. The shuriken sliced its way into the ground just behind him.

"I see some things don't change," Shockwave said, a satiric tone in his voice, "Yet others do. What happened to those sharp senses I've seen you exhibit here on Earth hmm? Have you let them slip away from you?"

"What are you talking about?" Saberwolf asked suspiciously.

"You let us follow you for quite some time. Did you really not realize we were there?"

Saberwolf grew more anxious.

_They've been following me?_

Saberwolf flinched, cursing herself for not noticing.

_I shouldn't have zoned out like that! I was totally unaware and exposed! _

Saberwolf glowered at Shockwave.

_Well, at least I have a target for my frustration._

Saberwolf drew her sword.

"Straight to battle? You don't want to chat some more?" Shockwave asked.

Saberwolf growled and lunged forward into a run. Shockwave sighed.

"Alright then, suit yourself."

Shockwave dashed out of Saberwolf's path, leaving some strange device in his wake. Saberwolf stopped herself and jumped backwards seconds before reaching it and turned until she could see both Shockwave and the device. Once she could see them both, Saberwolf examined the device. It looked like an explosive of some sort, and it was beeping and flashing rapidly. Saberwolf quickly pulled out her multi-tool and selected the shield function. An energy shield formed around. The flashing and faint beeping increased in speed until the thing clicked open. Saberwolf waited for the explosion, but it didn't come. Saberwolf looked at it suspiciously for a moment, then cast a skeptical look over at Shockwave. He merely stared back with malicious joy present in his optic. Saberwolf looked back at the device suspiciously.

Suddenly, the device exploded in an array of colorful lights and strobe lights that expanded throughout the entire clearing. Saberwolf's optics pricked with pain. She turned off the energy shield, as it's blue glow was only making the barrage of lights worse. She tucked it away and tried to look around for Shockwave. The strobe lights made it difficult to pinpoint his position, as they drastically skewed her perception of things in the clearing. Saberwolf squeezed her optics shut, focusing on her other senses to locate him.

"You think I can't operate without my optics?" Saberwolf said when she found him, "Think again."

She lashed out with her sword, but he managed to dodge.

"Oh I know you can," Shockwave said. But that little device does more than make pretty light shows.

Saberwolf only had to wonder for a moment before finding out what he meant. A pungent, bittersweet scent wafted its way to her olfactory sensors. The terrible aroma made her feel sick. She did her best to block out the smell, focusing now only on her sense of hearing and touch.

"Is that all you've got?"

Saberwolf lunged again, this time with a strong kick. It hit, sending Shockwave crashing to the ground. He grunted with pain, and started to stand, but Saberwolf sensed this and rushed over to pin him down before he could. She held her sword just above his neck.

"Even without sight or smell, I can still kill you," Saberwolf growled.

"Ah, but what about without hearing or touch?" Shockwave asked.

"What?"

Saberwolf felt a new set of vibrations through the ground as a large figure entered the clearing.

"Designation, Soundwave. Objective, disable target," said a new, monotone voice, "Frenzy, Rumble, eject."

There was an odd shuffling sound, transformation sounds, and then two thuds on the ground as two dense little figures landed. Saberwolf split her sword and pointed one at the new intruders, and kept the other at Shockwave's throat.

"Don't worry. They won't attack you," Shockwave said, "Well, not in the traditional sense anyway."

Again, there wasn't much time to wonder about it. The two smaller mechs, Rumble and Frenzy, started pounding on the ground causing it to shake violently. Saberwolf shuddered and stumbled backwards, falling onto her knees. Her processor started throbbing with pain from over stimulation. Saberwolf tried to block everything but her sense of hearing out, but just as she did, a loud guitar started playing. Saberwolf cringed and covered her audio receptors. She instinctively opened her eyes, but instantly regretted it. The strobe lights and laser light show was agony. Saberwolf started shaking, her head started spinning. The smell fought its way through to her, adding to the pain in her head. The spinning got worse, and Saberwolf's shaking turned to tremors. Saberwolf tried to block everything out, tried to move, but it was impossible.

Saberwolf whimpered in fear and her spark pounded. Her vision went in and out of focus, blurring with each throb in her head. She tried again to move, knowing that all she had to do was get to the device and shut it off. She merely managed to lose her balance again and fall to her side. The fall caused more pain than it normally would. Saberwolf guessed it was because her senses were going into overload. Saberwolf felt an immense amount of pain ripple through her body. Saberwolf felt a scream tear through her vocalizer. The once peaceful clearing had turned into something from a surreal horror flick. She could do nothing but look up at the sky and writhe in pain. In the flash of a strobe light, Shockwave was hovering above her. Saberwolf jumped, causing another wave of pain. Saberwolf almost begged him to stop all of this. But she knew she couldn't stoop to that. She merely glared up at him as she succumbed to sensory overload. Shockwave merely laughed. His laughter echoed in her head as the world went dark.


	33. ANNOUNCEMENT

So you're all probably going to hate me for this, but... Well, writing was supposed to be fun. It was supposed to make me happy and it was supposed to be a way for me to escape the pressure I'm under in real life. And it just isn't that way anymore.

Every time I come to this site I feel like I'm walking into a dark fog, and all I feel is guilt and sorrow. This story... It was never fit to publish on any forum. I should have never posted it here. There's so many flaws, so much godsdamned Mary-Sueness... It makes me sick. I literally feel sick when I think about it. This story is no longer fun, it's no longer pleasing, it's just a big black ball-and-chain of stress and I'm done carrying it around. So I'm deleting it. I'm not going to finish it. I think that's probably become pretty clear to you all, but here's the formal announcement.

**_Saberwolf_**** will never be completed. The story is dead.**

You can go ahead and call me a bitch, an asshole, a failure, a flake, all the names you can think of. 'Cause they're probably about right. I am horrible for doing this to you guys.

And because I'm a coward and I only have enough courage to delete the story, not to deal with the consequences afterward, I'll be deleting my FanFiction account as well. I just wanted to get this out first. A little word of warning I guess.

... Now, you can believe this or not, I'll leave it up to you:

**I'm sorry.**

I hate that I have to do this, I hate that I'm letting you down. I am so, so sorry that I failed you. But I just... I can't finish this story. It's not worth it. Trust me, it's not. I have to give up on it. It's better this way, I promise.

But that doesn't change the fact that it's shitty.

So again, I'm very sorry. I haven't the words to express how sorry I am.

That being said, I'm just going to say goodbye now. I'm leaving this up for a day, so that people can see it. First thing tomorrow, I'll be gone, this story will be gone, and we will not be coming back.

With many apologies,

~ Gertrude Fin


	34. ANNOUNCEMENT 2

_Okay, so..._

_I may have acted a bit rashly before. I was feeling pretty down on myself, my confidence was low, and I was... Well I just wasn't in a good place, mentally._

_I'm still not feeling 100% right now, so I won't be updating this story for a while. However, I will not be deleting it either. I just read the reviews and..._

_Wow. I have some amazing readers. I haven't any idea why I thought I'd get backlash. You have all been nothing but supportive, and it was wrong of me to think you would be any other way. You are all so wonderful, and I thank you for your kind words._

_That being said, this writer is not quite done yet._

_Per the request of a few of you, I will leave the story up as it is right now. However, I am on an official hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. A friend of mine and I have been brainstorming a bit, so I may, MAY be talking a look at Saber and her story a bit again. But I make no promises. This story may never get finished, as sad as that may be._

_I apologize for throwing you all for a loop like that, but I am so grateful for your continued support, even when I was prepared to leave. I'm glad now that I flaked on that, too. I would be a lot worse off if I had._

_So again,_ **THIS WRITER IS ON AN OFFICIAL HIATUS.** _I will not be updating with any story material, and even if I do happen to post something, don't let it get your hopes up too high because I am likely to lose my drive again at some point. I'm just... Like that I guess._

_But I will do my best. I owe you all that much. Thank you, readers. I appreciate all you have done for me._

_~ Ayla_

_P.S. Yeah, I want to go by Ayla now. I've wanted to go by this for a while... I guess now is as good a time as any for a pen name change._


End file.
